


Little Talks

by LilMissLibra



Series: You Haunt Me [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Three-way Relationship, past bullying, past homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-03-07 09:38:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3170099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilMissLibra/pseuds/LilMissLibra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emil can see ghosts, which wouldn't be such a big deal if his new house wasn't haunted by one. Reposting from FanFiction.net</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Emil had never had an issue with being gay, but then he had never had a boyfriend either. He used to have a crush on his best-friend-since-forever Matthew, but he hadn't felt the same way, so they just stayed friends. No, being gay wasn't a big deal; even his parents had said so.

Seeing ghosts, on the other hand, could easily lead to issues.

 _Yep, definitely leading to issues_ , Emil thought as they pulled up to their new house, and he noticed a face in one of the upper windows.

"Are the old owners still around?" he asked his parents.

"No, they moved out about five years ago," his mom replied. "They only now decided to sell the house."

"Why? If they were moving out, wouldn't they sell the house right away?"

"I heard their son committed suicide," said his dad with a mischievous smile. "Right in your room, Emil!"

"Don't say that, you'll freak him out!" chided his mom.

"Nah, Emil likes ghost stories, don't you?"

"Uh huh," Emil said absentmindedly as they began unloading the car. The face was gone from the window, but the blinds were still slightly askew.

If there was a ghost living in his room, he'd find some reason to move into the smaller guest bedroom. Contrary to popular belief, most ghosts were too consumed with their own deaths to bother anyone, but it would be kind of creepy to share a room with one.

Emil helped move box after box into the house, avoiding his room until they were all done. His mom pointed out which room was his, but he just stacked his things outside of the closed door.

"Did that actually freak you out?" his dad asked, nodding towards the door.

"No," Emil said defensively. "I'm just saving the surprise until we get all the boxes in." Once, a long time ago, he had tried to tell his parents about his "ability." His dad had ruffled his hair and told him to stop watching The Sixth Sense.

"Alright, kiddo, just don't let your mom trip over your crap."

Once they had the car all unloaded, his parents left him alone to explore his new room. He opened the door slowly and peeked inside but found no one, living or dead. He shuffled inside, carrying three stacked boxes, and plopped them in the middle of the room. He did the same with the next three boxes, setting them down next to the others. As he carried in the last box, he felt a slight stirring in the air. He looked up, unsurprised to see the ghost silently studying him.

"H-hello," he said quietly. He hadn't meant to stutter, but he hadn't expected the ghost to be so attractive. Of course, ghosts usually appeared as the dead people remembered themselves, so it was rare to see a ghost look like their own death. This man, this boy, couldn't have been much older than Emil. His straw blond hair hung over his indigo eyes, and a slightly confused look rippled over his otherwise calm face.

"You..." he began slowly, "you can see me?" His voice was flat, save the slight confusion to match his expression. Emil gave a slight nod, doing his best to meet the ghost's piercing gaze. He didn't have to for long, because the ghost quickly retreated through the wall. Just then, Emil's mom called him down for dinner. Emil laughed when he went downstairs and saw that they were sitting around a large empty box with delivery pizza on some unpacked plates.

"Hurry up, kiddo, the pizza's getting cold," his dad said, so he sat down and grabbed a piece.

"How do you like your room, sweetie?" asked his mom, and Emil flushed. He really hoped the ghost didn't hear that.

"I, um, I didn't get a good look at it yet," he said. "I might switch to the other room." Depending on where that ghost spent his time, that is.

"So you did get freaked out by that kid who offed himself!" his dad laughed.

"No, I didn't! And, Dad, you shouldn't joke about things like that."

"Oh, relax, it's not like he can hear me." Suddenly, there was a crash from upstairs, making the three of them jump.

"What was that?" Emil's mom asked quietly.

"I left some boxes stacked upstairs," Emil said quickly. "One of them must have fallen over."

"Emil, I hope nothing broke..."

"I'm sure it's fine! And anyway, Dad, it's really awful to joke about…" he paused, having a hard time saying the word, "suicide."

"Alright, I wasn't being serious anyway. I lost a cousin the same way, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Emil had met the cousin after it had happened.

After dinner, his dad followed him to his room to help set up the bed and bookcase. They were both surprised when they opened the door and found the bookcase already put together and halfway filled.

"Oh, right, I forgot that I already started on that," Emil said smoothly. "Sorry, it's been a long day."

"You can say that again. I didn't know you were so handy, Emil."

"Well, I do my best."

They put the bed together, unpacked the blankets, and made it up. His dad asked if there was anything else he wanted help with, but Emil shooed him out. Not ten seconds after he was gone, the ghost came back, looking ever so slightly sheepish.

"Sorry for knocking your boxes over," he said quietly.

Emil shrugged, listening to his dad's footsteps disappear down the hallway. He had already surveyed the damage, and nothing had broken. "Thanks for setting up my bookshelf, you didn't have to do that."

This time it was the ghost's turn to shrug. "It wasn't that difficult."

"I can, uh, switch rooms, if this one is yours."

The ghost stared at him with that piercing gaze, and Emil once again had to force himself not to look away. It was so intense and cold and beautiful, like a snowstorm. "I wouldn't have put your bookshelf together if I wanted you out," he said finally.

"Oh, right." Emil stuck his hand out. "I'm Emil Steilsson." The ghost hesitantly took his hand; his skin felt cold like a snowstorm, too.

"I am...was? Lukas Thomassen."

"Nice to meet you, Lukas."

"Likewise, sweetie."

Emil started, unsure if he had heard correctly. There was a glint in the ghost's, no, Lukas's eye, and a smile slowly spread across his face.

"Oh, my god," Emil groaned. He had heard.

"Not quite, kiddo."

"Stop that!"

"Emil, sweetie, are you all right?" called his mom.

"I'm fine, Mom!" he answered. Lukas grinned cheekily at him. "I am not sharing a room with you!" he hissed at the other boy.

"Too late, unless you want your dad to think you're afraid of a ghost."

Emil groaned again. “Just so you know, I’m no Haley Joel Osment. I don’t take care of unfinished business for people, so don’t ask.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Lukas said smoothly. “Don’t have any, anyway.”

Now that the mood was suddenly serious, Emil asked his usual questions. “Did it hurt?”

“Like hell.”

“Do you wish you hadn’t…?”

“Offed myself?”

“Sorry about my dad, he didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s alright. And yes, I wish I hadn’t, so don’t you do it.” Lukas flicked Emil lightly on the nose, sending a chill through his face. “Stop that frowning, you look cuter when you smile.”

“Don’t say weird things like that,” Emil complained, turning away as he blushed. Great, now his nose was running. As attractive as this ghost was, Emil preferred when the dead kept their clammy hands to themselves. But that gave him an idea. “Hey, can you do me a favor?”

“I already did you a favor, remember?” Lukas gestured to the bookcase.

“Come on, I’ll owe you.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Emil regretted them. He didn’t know anything about this guy, other than the fact that he had killed himself in this very room, and that he liked to listen in on Emil’s family.

“Hmm, well, what’s the favor?”

“My best friend doesn’t believe that I can see ghosts.”

“Who would?”

“We’ve been best friends since kindergarten, so he should believe me.”

“So, what? You want me to move some things around like some poltergeist?”

“Yeah, that would prove it to him.”

“Fine, I’ll do it, but you owe me.”

“I know.”

“Good.”

They stared at each other, and Emil finally looked away. “I’m going to get ready for bed. Don’t watch me or do anything strange.”

“I make no promises.”

Emil was really starting to wish he was ignorant about ghosts. Or that there was some kind of supernatural lock to put on the bathroom door.

Matthew came over the next morning, having offered to help Emil unpack. Emil’s mom let him in and sent him up. Emil was busy reorganizing his bookshelf, since Lukas had apparently spent all night reading his books and sorting them by how good he thought they were.

“Oh, hey, Mattie,” Emil said when the boy entered the room.

“Hey, Emil, how’s it going? This house is great.”

“Yeah, it’s my mom’s dream house supposedly.” The air stirred slightly, and Emil noticed Matthew shiver slightly. “Actually, the house came with an extra…surprise.”

“Huh?” Matthew zipped up his hoodie.

“It’s haunted.”

“Hey, now, I’m just minding my own business,” Lukas said dryly from behind him.

“Oh, is that so?” Matthew said offhandedly, having not heard the ghost standing three feet from him. “Woah!” One of the books had come off of Emil’s bookcase and was floating in the air.

“I don’t even know how to haunt people,” Lukas complained, flipping through the pages of the book. “Boring.” He flicked it across the room.

“Hey, I like that book!” Emil said angrily.

“Emil, is this some kind of joke?” Matthew asked meekly.

“No, Mattie, this is an asshole ghost who lives in my room.”

“I beg to differ; I don’t live anywhere.” Lukas picked up a shirt from one of the boxes on the floor and inspected it. “You have the same fashion sense as all boys your age. That is to say, none.”

“But…but!” Matthew was staring at the floating shirt with wide eyes, so Emil had him sit down on the floor.

“I tried to tell you before, but you wouldn’t believe me,” he said quietly. His best friend looked him in the eye.

“Emil, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you before. That’s kind of a lot to ask someone to believe without proof.”

“I know, but now I have proof."

"Is it...is the ghost near me?" Matthew stuck his hand out in front of him, and Lukas brushed his own over it. Matthew shivered and stuck his hand in his hoodie. "Please don't do that. Emil, tell the ghost not to do that."

"I can hear you, you know," Lukas said sardonically. "I'm dead, not deaf." Emil snorted.

"What?" Matthew asked nervously.

"He said that he can hear you."

"That is not all that I said."

When they were finished, Emil and Matthew went downstairs to eat leftover pizza. "So, what's the ghost like?" Matthew asked quietly. Emil checked around for his spectral roommate before answering.

"His name is Lukas, and he's a little older than us."

"Hey, Mattie, how's it going?" said Emil's dad cheerily as he walked by their makeshift table.

"Hi, Mr. Steilsson, the house looks great!"

"Thanks! What do you think of Emil's room? He wants to switch, because the last occupant killed himself in there."

"Ah, well,” Matthew gulped and glanced at the stairs. “I think it's a great room, but it might be good to switch. You know, bad mojo and all that."

"I don't understand you kids," Emil's dad laughed, shaking his head. "You have no problems watching horror movies, but you get freaked out by 'bad mojo'? Hey, what time are you supposed to be at the Køhler's, Emil?"

"4:30."

"Alright, remember that you'll have to leave earlier, since we live farther away now."

"I know, Dad."

Emil was so busy glaring at his dad's back that it took him a while to notice Matthew grinning at him. "What?" he asked when he looked over at his friend.

"Is Lukas as cute as Mathias?"

"Oh, um." Emil felt his face instantly grow hot. "Ah, yes, but in, like, a different way? I didn't really think to compare him to Mat."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"That I'm sharing a room with a hot ghost? Like he'd even believe me."

"Oh, right, there's that."

Matthew left soon after eating, and Emil went to his room to grab his backpack. "Who's Mathias?" Lukas asked casually, lounging on Emil’s bed. Emil gaped at him.

“You weren’t listening in on us, were you?”

“Hmm,” he hummed noncommittally. “It’s nice to know that after being dead for five years, I’m still pretty.”

“You’re kidding me…”

“Oh, no, what was it you said? Something about sharing a room with a hot ghost?”

“I’m moving into the other room, I swear.”

“Do you really think two doors and a hallway is going to stop me from bugging you? I’m having the time of my life here. Well…”

Emil slumped onto his bed, carefully avoiding the cold entity next to him. “How many dead jokes are you going to make?”

“I haven’t spoken to anyone in five years; I have at least that many saved up. So who’s Mathias?”

“He’s the son of my dad’s best friend, and he helps me with my homework. He’s your age, I think.”

“He’s probably not my age.”

“How old are you anyway? Or, rather, how old were you?”

“Seventeen.” Lukas sounded so distant, and his eyes looked so sad. Without thinking, Emil reached out and brushed a piece of hair out of his eyes, ignoring the chill that passed through his fingertips. Lukas caught his hand and held it lightly. “You forgot to mention his alleged attractiveness.”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Emil muttered, pulling his hand back. He stood up and grabbed his backpack and helmet. “I’d better head out, if I want to get there on time.”

“Shall I grab my jacket?”

“What?”

“Is it cold out? Because if it is, I should grab a coat.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Emil regarded him carefully; he had never seen a ghost go bonkers, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen. Lukas smirked at him.

“I’m coming with you,” he said. “I was joking about the coat, though. I’m dead, I don’t get cold.”

“I know that! Wait, what? Why would you come with me?”

“I want to see if he’s as cute as your friend made him out to be.”

“Have you even left this house since you died?”

“Once, for my funeral.” That dampened the atmosphere once again, and Emil sighed.

“Fine, you can tag along, but then we’re even, okay? And you can’t cause trouble or do anything weird.”

“I’m still not making any promises.”

Lukas was silent on the way to Mathias’s house, and Emil wasn’t sure if he was following. Actually, he wasn’t even sure how ghosts usually travelled. Did they have to float around everywhere, or could they just pop up wherever they wanted? Emil had never asked one, but he had never exchanged more than a few words with one anyway. He didn’t turn around to see if Lukas was there or not; if he really wanted to tag along, he could figure out how to get there.

Emil parked his bike in front of the house as usual, and Lukas was there when he looked over his shoulder. He rang the doorbell, trying to ignore the ghost standing just a little too close behind him. It didn’t take long for Mathias to open the door.

“Hey, Emil! How’s it—?” He cut off suddenly, his eyes looking just past Emil’s head. “Um, how’s it going?” Emil was about to answer when Lukas interrupted him.

“Oh, can you see me, too?”

“What?” Mathias asked.

“What?” Emil asked, looking between Lukas and Mathias. Lukas was calmly assessing the older boy, and Mathias was gaping at the ghost.

“Um, okay,” Mathias said carefully, looking behind him. “Let’s go to my room, and hurry. Oh, and don’t touch anything, ghost.”

“Is that how you welcome guests?” Lukas asked dryly.

Mathias ushered them through his house and into his room, closing the door behind them. “Sorry about that,” he said with a slight smile. “My mom can’t see spirits, but she can sense them, and she freaks out.”

“Your mom can sense ghosts?” Emil asked. “Wait, no, you can see ghosts, too?”

“Yeah, I didn’t know you could, too.”

“Wow, I’ve never met anyone else who could.”

Mathias gave him a genuine smile and ruffled his hair. “So, where did you come from?” he asked Lukas.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, this is Lukas. He’s haunting my new house,” Emil supplied.

“And apparently haunting you, too.” Mathias’s face turned serious, and he leaned down to speak to Emil softly. “Emil, is this ghost bothering you?”

“What? No, he’s not bothering me. I mean, he’s bugging me, but it’s fine.”

“Would you two stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Lukas interjected.

Mathias straightened up and stuck out his hand, grinning at the ghost. “Mathias Køhler.”

“Lukas Thomassen.” They shook hands.

“So, Lukas, what are you sticking around for?”

“Oh, you know, just to annoy Emil.” Lukas slung an arm around the boy, making him shiver. He tried to shrug the ghost off to no avail. “I already told him, I don’t have any unfinished business.”

“Then why aren’t you at peace?” Mathias asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“I, well…” Lukas’s voice grew quiet. “I always thought this was my punishment, like purgatory.”

“Punishment?”

“For killing myself.”

“Ah…ah.”

“Mathias, I think you watched The Sixth Sense too many times,” Emil said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. “I’ve never had a ghost ask me to do anything for them.”

“Well, I haven’t either, but they’ve always been pretty rude to me.”

“Probably because you stick your nose into their business,” Lukas said snidely. “So how many of you psychics are there?”

“I’m not psychic,” Emil protested. “I can’t see the future or read minds.”

“Right.” Lukas smirked. “Because if you could read minds, you two would already know that you want to screw each other.”

“What?” Emil shrieked.

“What?” Mathias added.

“Oh, come on, I’m dead, not dumb. Emil, you were just talking with your friend about how cute Mathias is, and it’s written all over his face that he likes you, too.”

Emil covered his face with his hands, blushing furiously. “Are you serious right now?” he groaned.

“You think I’m cute?” Mathias asked happily.

“You should’ve heard what he said about me, though. ‘That ghost, what a hotty!’”

“That is not what I said!”

“Aw, look, now you’ve embarrassed him.” Mathias pulled him away from Lukas, wrapping his arms around the boy. “Poor Emil, being teased by the hot ghost.”

“Knock it off!” Emil tried to wiggle out of his arms, but once again he failed.

“Yeah, knock it off, Mathias.” Lukas said, pulling him back. “He obviously likes me better anyway.”

“Let me go, you’re freezing!”

“Yeah, let him go, Lukas. He’s known me longer.”

Emil didn’t understand how this had turned into an argument, and he really didn’t understand why Lukas and Mathias were grinning at each other. He finally freed himself from the two of them and stepped back to look at them. They almost looked like they were flirting, and a thought occurred to him that he was instantly ashamed of.

“What is it?” Lukas asked, looking at him curiously.

“Ah, um,” he stuttered, blushing. “I was just thinking that you two would make a good couple.”

“That may be so,” Lukas mused, “but I think you and I would make a better one.” He grabbed Emil and pulled him back between the two of them.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Mathias groaned. “You’re a ghost!”

“So?”

“You can’t date Emil; he’s still alive! And he and I would make a better couple, anyway.”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Emil said exasperatedly, putting a hand on Lukas’s and Mathias’s chests to push them apart. “Are you really going to fight over me like children when I’m right here? You know, you could just ask me my opinion!” The other two fell silent.

“So, what is your opinion, Emil?” Mathias asked quietly.

“Um, on what, specifically?”

“Let’s make it simple,” Lukas said. “Who would you rather date?”

Emil suppressed a groan; this was quickly turning into a bad dating game with him as the main character. But two pairs of expectant eyes stared down at him, so he considered the question. He had had a crush on Mathias for a while, but he couldn’t just count Lukas out. As far as attraction went, they were both cute in their own ways. Mathias had an easy-going personality, but sometimes it was a little too much for Emil. From the time that he had spent with Lukas, he seemed to be quieter and more sarcastic, which he enjoyed as well.

“Uh, well, who says I have to choose, anyway?” he said finally, crossing his arms. Really, he had just come over to work on homework and maybe do some harmless flirting, not play Paris (or be their golden apple either, for that matter). “Maybe I wouldn’t date either of you.”

Mathias and Lukas gaped at him. “Did we both just get rejected?” Mathias asked Lukas.

“I don’t think you’re being totally honest with us,” Lukas chided. “It’s okay to say that you’d rather date a ghost than that loser.”

“Hey, I’m not a loser!”

“Okay, you know what, I’m going home.” Emil grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “You two stay here and work out your sexual tension.” He turned and exited Mathias’s room, leaving the other two in temporary silence.

“Of course,” Lukas said quietly, “we could always woo him together.”

Mathias looked at the ghost in surprise, but a smile soon spread across his face. “That’s the best thing that’s come out of your mouth since you got here.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So let me get this straight,” Matthew said in the cafeteria during lunch. “You had two hot guys ask you to pick between them, and you flat out rejected them both?”

“Yeah, that’s about right,” Emil answered.

“Okay, well, ghost complications aside, you’ve been crushing on Mathias for a long time now.”

“It hasn’t been _that_ long, and don’t worry, they won’t let me get away with that answer for long.”

“Hey, Emil!” Mathias said happily, walking over to their table and sitting beside him. “Hey, Mattie!”

“Hi, Mat.” Matthew smiled, suddenly standing up. “I’ve gotta get going, I’ll see you later, Emil.”

“What? But…” Matthew gave him a wink as he collected his things, and Emil rolled his eyes. “Okay, see ya.”

Mathias shifted closer to Emil and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “So, is your new friend not with you today?”

“No, he said he had no interest in going to school.” Which was sort of true. Lukas had said something cryptic about having escaped from high school and never wanting to return to “that hellhole” again. “Did you two ever work things out?”

“Maaaybe,” Mathias sang. “Sooo, do you want to come over to my house today?”

“Um…” Emil looked down at the table, blushing. _Is he asking in, like, a date way?_

“I mean, like, to do homework. Since you didn’t get to yesterday, and it’s probably pretty distracting at your house.”

“I’ll say.” Emil mulled it over. “So you mean, do I want to come over without Lukas?”

“Yeah, he’ll probably just bug you if you bring him along.”

“Okay, sure.”

“Awesome, I’ll see you after school.” Mathias gave him a brilliant grin and ruffled his hair, making the younger boy blush again.

Once classes were over, Emil sent a text to his parents telling them he’d be at the Køhlers’ doing homework. It was going to be nice to have a few hours alone with Mathias and away from Lukas, but really, Emil was looking forward to riding in Mathias’s car instead of taking the bus. He used to ride his bike to school, but now they lived just a little too far for that, and he hated the bus already. Mathias had an old junker car, but it was air conditioned and had cushioned seats.

It was also nice that Mathias was sort of popular, so riding with him made Emil feel pretty cool, too. _God, that’s a stupid thought._ He saw Matthew walking home and waved to him. His best friend waved back, winking at him again. He rolled his eyes again and turned up Mathias’s radio, singing along to the song playing. Mathias sang along as well, smiling widely.

They pulled up to his house, and Mathias slung an arm over Emil’s shoulders as they walked inside. “What are you doing, weirdo?” Emil asked, ducking out from underneath.

“Oh, hi, Emil!” greeted Mathias’s mom. “I didn’t know you were coming over today.”

“We’re gonna work on homework again,” Mathias answered a little too quickly, and Emil scrutinized him.

“That’s fine, your dad and I are going out tonight,” said his mom, apparently having not noticed anything. “How is your new house, Emil?”

“It’s, um, nice. It’s my mom’s dream house,” Emil replied hesitantly.

“We’ll have to invite ourselves over one of these nights.”

“Oh, Mom, I don’t think you would like it,” Mathias said even faster. “There’s some, you know, bad juju.”

“Hmm? Oh…oh, my. Are you alright in there, Emil?”

“What? Yeah, I’m not bothered by…bad juju.”

“Yes, you are,” Mathias said under his breath, and Emil glared at him. Mathias’s mom walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulders.

“I have an amulet that helps block it, do you want it?”

For a terrible, awful moment, Emil considered it. He imagined, with some horrible satisfaction, Lukas’s face when the amulet blocked him from hugging the younger. However, he shook his head. “Thanks, Mrs. Køhler, but I’m not that bothered by it.”

“You know, you should’ve taken the amulet,” Mathias said when they were in his room.

“I don’t know, I don’t have any way to block _you_.”

“Hey.” He bumped the younger with his shoulder, laughing. “But really, I don’t live in your room, and I can’t walk through doors. Locked doors.”

“Well, he hasn’t yet.”

“ _Yet_.”

“Okay, maybe it would be nice to have for my bathroom, but I would feel kind of mean for doing it. I mean, I doubt he would actually walk in on me on the toilet or something.”

“Just think about it, okay?” Mathias was looking at him seriously, which made him blush _again_. _This can’t be good for my health._

“Okay, I’ll think about it,” he huffed. “Can we work on homework now?”

“Of course!”

They worked in silence for a while, sitting on either side of Mathias’s desk, but eventually Emil got stuck on a math problem. The older boy walked around to stand behind him and look the problem over, leaning in too close.

“Which problem?” he asked casually, his breath hitting Emil’s ear.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Emil asked shakily. _This is_ so _not good for my health._ He could feel the heat radiating from his friend.

“I’m helping you with your homework.”

“Um, no, you’re not.” He turned his head to look at Mathias and found his face right next to his own.

“I never got the chance to tell you yesterday,” said Mathias quietly, “but I think you’re cute, too.” He leaned in closer, and…

The door slammed open, and a chill permeated the room. Mathias jumped away from the desk, and Emil stared wide-eyed at Lukas standing casually in the doorway, his arms crossed.

“Well, don’t you two look cozy?” he said with a slight smile. Mathias stormed over to him, pulled him into the room, and closed the door.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he whispered angrily. “You’re going to give my mom a freaking heart attack!”

“Relax, your parents are out, I checked.”

“What are you doing here, Lukas?” Emil asked angrily. He was embarrassed, plus that stupid ghost had scared the hell out of him. Maybe that amulet wasn’t such a bad idea.

“I heard your parents talking about how you were here ‘studying,’ so I came to join the party.” _He actually made the quotation marks, I can’t believe him._

“We _were_ studying, until you showed up,” Mathias said, and Lukas raised an eyebrow at him.

“Clearly.” He threw an arm around Mathias’s shoulder, and the latter visibly shivered. “So, Mathias, buddy, _pal_ ,” he began in a flat voice. “What happened to our agreement?”

“Did we come to an agreement yesterday? I don’t remember that, only your suggestion.”

“I see, well, two can play at that game.” They grinned at each other, making it seem like they were flirting again.

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Emil asked, looking confusedly between the two. Lukas smiled at him impishly, stepping away from Mathias towards him.

“Nothing, nothing,” he said offhandedly. “I heard you need help with math? I used to be pretty good with math.”

“And I’m sure that was a few years ago,” Mathias said, annoyed, as Lukas took his spot leaning over Emil.

“My body is the one that’s rotting, not my mind.” Lukas proceeded to give clear and concise instructions to Emil on how to solve the problem.

“Wow, thanks,” he said, turning to smile at the ghost, but, just like Mathias, his face was way too close. “Would you knock it off? You’re really cold.”

“Good thing, because it looks like you have a fever,” he replied smoothly, brushing his fingers across Emil’s red cheeks.

“I’m plenty warm, Emil,” Mathias said from his other side. “Beating heart and everything.”

“Overrated.”

“Are you guys really going to start this again?” Emil exclaimed, putting his head in his hands. “I thought you said you had worked things out.”

“I thought we had, too,” Lukas said.

“Okay, well, I’m not changing my answer.”

“Are you sure about that?” Mathias ask smugly.

“I still don’t think you’re being honest with us,” Lukas added.

They both leaned in to kiss him at the same time, so he slid down in his seat, and they ended up kissing each other.

“Wow,” Mathias said, blinking.

“That was unexpected,” Lukas said, unruffled. “But not entirely unpleasant.”

Emil groaned and slid further down in the chair and under the desk, which was almost smooth, but he hit his head crawling out from underneath it. “Ow, okay, maybe I should just go home.”

“No, wait, Emil, you don’t have to,” Mathias said, stepping in front of the door.

“Are you, are you okay?” Lukas asked, trying not to crack up.

“Uh, yeah, I do.” Emil wanted to sink into the floor, but in a cooler way than he just had. He reached across Lukas to gather his things from the desk. _At least I got some of my homework done before the freak show started._

“Hold up, sweetie.” Lukas put his hands over Emil’s.

“Calling me that is _not_ going to make me want to listen to you,” he replied, glaring at the ghost.

“It’s not my fault you’re so fun to tease. Anyway, Mathias and I came to an agreement yesterday, at least I _thought_ we came to an agreement, that we wouldn’t make you choose between the two of us.”

“Good, because I—”

“We’re just going to share you.”

“What?!” He looked between them in confusion again. Lukas smirked at him, and Mathias smiled sheepishly. “Aren’t you supposed to get my consent before you decide things that like?”

“Don’t you like the idea?” Mathias asked.

“I…” He took a step back, hugging his schoolbooks to his chest. “I don’t know.”

“What’s not to know?” Mathias stepped closer to him. “We’ve known each other forever.”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“Is it because you just met me?” Lukas stepped around Mathias. “Because I probably know more about you after reading your diary than this back-stabbing promise-breaker.”

“I don’t even have a diary, you weirdo! It’s because you two can’t be in the same room for five minutes without fighting.”

“Well, to be fair, I did start this fight by inviting you over.” Mathias shrugged unapologetically.

“It’s nice that you admit that, but I’m still going home.”

“Fine by me, I happen to share a room with you.”

“I should’ve taken that amulet,” Emil muttered under his breath.

“At least let me drive you home,” Mathias said as Emil packed up his bag, and the younger frowned at him.

“Of course, you’re going to drive me. Did you think I was going to walk all the way home?”

Emil finished gathering his things and walked out of the room ahead of the other two. Mathias once again wrapped his arm around the younger’s shoulders, and Lukas slid his arm around Emil’s waist. “Quit it, you two,” he mumbled to the floor.

“Nope,” they said in unison, causing him to give an exasperated sigh.

He sat up front next to Mathias like he always did, but it was weird to have someone in the backseat. Of course, not many people could say they’d ridden in a car with a ghost.

“What are you doing?” Mathias asked Lukas.

“Hitching a ride,” he answered.

“You’re a ghost, can’t you just poof places?”

"I suppose I could, but then I wouldn’t be able to chaperone you two.”

“I don’t need a chaperone,” Emil said angrily.

“Well, then let’s just say I want to spend time with you.”

“Alright, well, everyone buckle up,” Mathias cut in.

“Do I have to?” Lukas asked. “They’re so unfashionable.”

Emil laughed, his bad mood lifting a little. He didn’t notice the other two in the car smile at his reaction and confer with each other silently.

“Hey, Mathias,” Lukas said casually as they pulled away from the house. “Knock, knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“Not me, I’m dead.”

Emil laughed harder, holding his stomach.

“Hey, Emil, do you still think I’m hot?” Lukas asked, leaning forward to look at him.

“No, he thinks you’re cold,” Mathias answered. “Ice cold. I-cy dead people.”

“Goddamnit,” Emil gasped between bouts of laughter. “That’s—not—even—funny!”

“But do you think I’m cute still?” Lukas asked again.

“Ye-yeah.”

“Would you say I’m…drop dead gorgeous?”

Needless to say, Emil was in tears by the time they pulled up to his new house.

“Thanks for the ride,” he told Mathias, still short of breath.

“No problem!”

Then before Emil could grab his bag or open the car door, the older boy leaned over, grabbed him by the chin, and pressed their lips together. Maybe if the younger had been expecting it, he would have reacted better. That is, maybe he would have reacted at all, because he just froze in his seat. He probably just used his last allotted blush for the month. He noticed Lukas staring, shocked, at Mathias when he pulled away, the ghost’s mouth slightly agape.

"Er, sorry,” Mathias laughed awkwardly, patting Emil’s head. “You were just so cute laughing like that, and—”

“It’s…it’s alright,” Emil said. “I’ll, um, see you tomorrow?”

“Right, of course.”

Emil grabbed his backpack and exited the car, and a strange sort of fuzziness spread from his toes up, making him smile giddily. Lukas slammed the car door shut for him with a bang, muttering to himself in annoyance. The younger boy ignored him, practically floating into the house and up to his room. He lay down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

He nearly had a heart attack when Lukas leaned over him suddenly.

“Emil, can I kiss you?” he asked.

“What?” the younger sat up and looked at the ghost sitting next to him.

“I figured I would do the nice thing and ask you, unlike that _rude_ guy.” He tilted his head. “Do you not want to kiss me?”

“No, I want to, it’s just…”

“Come on, I’m 0 for 2 against Mathias, and I haven’t kissed anyone in at least five years.”

“You kissed him earlier.”

“That didn’t count.” Lukas tossed his head with finality, and Emil lay back down.

“That…that was my first kiss,” he admitted.

“Are you serious? I bet that idiot didn’t even know that when he kissed you.”

“I don’t know, he might’ve. We really have been friends since forever, so he should know.”

“Damn, then I’m 0 for 3.”

“What, is this a competition to you?”

“If I said yes, would you help me win?”

“I, um…” Emil looked at the wall. “If you promise not to spy on me in the bathroom.”

He sat up again when he heard a snort. “Did you really think I would watch you in the bathroom? Jeez, I’m not that twisted.” Lukas snickered, lying down next to the glaring boy next to him. “Oh, don’t give me that look,” he said, brushing the younger’s hair back. “I’m sorry, look, I’ll make up for it by giving you a kiss.”

“Fine,” Emil huffed, “but it had better be a good one.”

Lukas sat up again, giving the other a smug smile before leaning in to kiss him. Maybe it was because the room suddenly felt so hot, but Emil barely even noticed how icy cold the ghost was. His lips felt soft enough to be living, and the way they moved sent a jolt through the boy. Of course, having no experience in this kind of matter, Emil was awkward and… _slobbery_. But Lukas wrapped his arms around him before he could pull away, so he tried to concentrate on matching their mouths.

He was so distracted, in fact, that he didn’t hear the knock on his door. Fortunately (was it fortunate?), Lukas heard the door opening and quickly pulled away, disappearing through the wall by the bed. Emil’s dad gave an assessing look to his flushed, out of breath son and raised an eyebrow.

“What, are you making out with a ghost in here?” he asked.

“What?! No! I’m just…!”

“Oh, no need to explain, kiddo.”

“No, Dad, it’s not like that!”

“You’re at that age now…”

“ _Dad!_ ”

And Lukas, that bastard, was laughing loudly in the next room. _Is this really my life now?_ He covered his face with his hands and groaned.


	3. Chapter 3

There was a man standing outside the house when Emil got home from school. He was in a bad mood, because Mathias had had a student council meeting, so he had been forced to take the bus. Loud, smelly, and crowded, and he was looking forward to the relative peace he would get before his parents got home from work. Instead he got a freakishly tall stranger staring up at his new house with glazed over eyes.

“Um, can I help you?” he said, wincing a little when it came out brattier than he had planned.

The man looked down at him, squinting. _Jeez, he’s kind of scary looking._ Emil glanced up at his window, but didn’t see his ghostly…boyfriend? Well, he didn’t see Lukas, so he steeled himself and met the stranger’s harsh gaze.

“My family and I just moved in a few weeks ago. If you’re looking for the Thomassens, they moved out about five years ago.”

“I know,” said the man gruffly. “I just…was in the area and thought I’d stop by to see the house again.”

The stranger looked back up at the house, his face softening slightly.

“I’m Emil Steilsson.”

“…Berwald Oxenstierna.”

“Did you know the Thomassens?”

“I…knew their son, Lukas.”

“Were you friends?”

“You could say that.”

“Do you want to come inside?” Emil wasn’t sure if inviting a total stranger inside his house was such a good idea, but he was curious about this guy.

“No,” Berwald answered quickly. It occurred to the younger that Lukas probably wouldn’t want to see an old friend who couldn’t see him.

“How well did you know Lukas?”

“Better than anyone, but not well enough.”

“What was he like?”

Berwald glared down at Emil, making him jump a little. “Sorry! It’s just that he lives in my room. No, no, wait that’s not right. I mean, I live in his room. Er, his old room, that is. Um, I was just curious.”

“Hm?” The glare turned into a look of confusion that was still pretty terrifying, but it seemed that Berwald didn’t realize how angry he looked. “Serious and brilliant,” he finally answered. “He was quiet and shy.”

“Oh.” That didn’t sound at all like the Lukas he knew. Maybe Berwald hadn’t actually known him? Or maybe death had changed him, warped his personality? Emil knew very little about ghosts, despite the fact that he could see and talk to them.

“But,” Berwald continued quietly, “he had another side that almost no one saw. He was sarcastic and sly, and he could always make me laugh. Not an easy thing to do.”

“I can imagine.” Emil shifted on his feet, rolling his shoulders. He wanted to get this heavy backpack off, but he also really wanted to hear more about Lukas. “So did you two date?”

Now it was Berwald’s turn to jump. Then he sighed, giving a tiny laugh. “I forget that it’s been five years already. Things have changed around here a lot.”

“Were his parents homophobic?”

“Mhm, they should’ve been proud of him, all that he accomplished. Well, not like they were the only ones…” A heavy silence fell between them. Emil was starting to feel guilty about the fact that he could see and touch this man’s dead boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend since five years ago, but still. He searched desperately for a new line of conversation.

“What do you do now, Berwald?”

“’m about to finish college. Nuclear engineering.”

“Wow, that’s…wow.”

“Mm. I wanted to…I thought about…physics…” The last word was muttered so quietly that Emil had to strain to hear it. He filed it away for later, figuring it must be important.

A car horn beeped, making them both jump. Mathias parked his car on the street in front of the house. “Oh, that’s my…” Emil paused, searching for the right word. Boyfriend still felt so foreign. “That’s Mathias.” He had completely forgotten that the older boy was coming over to help him study.

Berwald gave him a tiny, knowing smile. “Here,” he mumbled, holding out a CD case. “Take this.”

“A CD?”

“Lukas made it for me.”

“Why are you giving it to me?”

“’t’s damn good music.”

The tall man gave another sad look towards the house and walked away without another word. “Well, that was weird,” Emil grumbled to himself.

“Hey, who was that guy?” Mathias called, getting out of his car. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. He’s…he _was_ a friend of Lukas’s.”

“You weren’t asking about him, were you?”

“What if I was?”

“Emil, you don’t need to go prying into his old life,” Mathias sighed, crossing his arms.

“Aren’t you at least a little curious? I mean he did…” The younger shut up when he heard the front door open.

“Oh, there you are, Emil,” Lukas called from the doorway. “What are you doing out there with _that guy_?”

“Is that really what you call your boyfriend?” Mathias laughed. He gave Emil a significant look and nudged him towards the house. The younger walked in, slipping the CD into his coat pocket.

Even with both of his, um, boyfriends helping him study, Emil was still getting frustrated. He had a big math test the next day, and he couldn’t understand half of the concepts. Lukas would show him how to solve the problems, but he couldn’t get the right answer no matter what. Mathias would give him mnemonics to memorize the formulas, but they wouldn’t stick in his brain.

He finally threw his math book to the floor, burying his head in his arms as frustrated tears slipped out. “Just forget about it,” he groaned. “You guys are just wasting your time.”

“Maybe we should take a break,” Mathias suggested. “You’re probably getting a little brain-fried with all of this studying.”

“I would need a brain for that first.”

Lukas blew cold air into his ear, practically making him jump off his bed. “None of that self-pitying crap,” he said flatly. “So what if you don’t understand pre-calculus? That doesn’t make you stupid.”

“Oh great, a suicide victim is lecturing me about self-pity.”

Silence. Cold, dead, silence, literally and figuratively. Emil looked up in realization, his eyes wide. “Oh, jesus, Lukas, I’m so sorry.” Now he really was crying, to his absolute horror. “God, I’m a piece of shit.”

Lukas carefully wiped away his tears. “I ran out of self-pity three years ago,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry, too.”

“Okay, that’s my cue,” Mathias said, climbing onto the bed and hugging them both. “No sad boyfriends on my watch.” He squeezed them tightly, his warmth offsetting Lukas’s cold touch.

They lay like that for a few moments, the room quiet except for Emil’s miserable sniffling. “Hey, Emil,” Mathias mumbled into his hair.

“Yeah?”

“What’s cooler than being cool?”

“Dead,” Lukas answered.

Emil gave a weak, teary laugh and received a kiss on either side of his face from the other two.

“Do you want to hear a story, Emil?” Lukas asked.

“Um, sure.”

“Too bad, because dead men tell no tales.”

He laughed a little more, still sniffling. “I’m about 70% sure that you spend all day thinking of more dead jokes.”

“You would be about 70% correct.”

“Geez, Lukas,” Mathias said happily. “You really need to get a life.”

That made all three of them laugh. They untangled themselves from each other, sitting up slowly, and decided to head downstairs for a snack.

Emil’s mom came home while they were digging through the pantry.

“Hi, sweetie! Oh, hi, Mathias!” she greeted happily. Lukas snorted at the nickname, but, of course, she didn’t hear him. Emil sighed, crossing his arms.

“Hi, Mrs. Steilsson,” Mathias replied, grinning at the flustered younger boy.

“Brr, it’s cold in here,” commented Emil’s mom, rubbing her upper arms. “It wasn’t this cold outside, though.”

“Sorry,” Lukas stage-whispered. “I’ll just go back to making the second floor cold.” He disappeared into the wall next to the pantry.

“We just had the freezer open,” Mathias said. “Maybe that’s making it feel colder in here.”

“Maybe…it does feel a bit warmer now.”

They grabbed a couple of apples and headed back up to Emil’s room. He hadn’t told his parents yet that he and Mathias were officially…going out. God, even the thought made him embarrassed. Anyway, the fact that he couldn’t tell his parents about his second boyfriend made things a lot easier, but he didn’t feel right only telling them about Mathias.

After that break, Emil felt a lot calmer, but it didn’t help his studying much. By the time Mathias left, Emil still hadn’t memorized any formulas, but at least he was getting half of the problems right now. Lukas continued to help him until 10:30 when he ordered the younger to go to sleep.

“But I’m not ready for this test,” he protested.

“You’ll be fine if you get a good night’s sleep,” Lukas said gently, closing the math book and packing it in the boy’s bag. “But you’ll do horribly if you’re too tired to think.”

“But—”

“If you’re so concerned, you can study some more tomorrow morning before school.”

Emil conceded and got ready for bed. He did get some good sleep, but he had a strange dream that Lukas took his math test for him. Still, he woke up feeling pretty grumpy, and this was compounded by the fact that Lukas was sitting on top of him.

“Get off, you creep,” he groaned, trying to roll over. Unfortunately, Lukas had the ability to be heavy enough to keep him in place without actually crushing him.

“Are you ready for your test?” he asked, ignoring the younger’s futile struggles.

“No, I’m not, so get off of me, so I can study some more.”

“I think you should just stay home today.”

“Why the hell would I do that?”

“Because you’re sick.” Lukas smirked down at him. “You woke up with the chills. You’ll have an extra day to study.”

“Did you ever do that when you were alive?”

“No.”

“Then I’m not going to.” He finally managed to shove the ghost off and rolled over to look at his clock. It read 7:05. “Shit, the bus is coming in twenty-five minutes!” he exclaimed, jumping out of bed. “I thought I set my alarm for 6:30.”

“You did, but I turned it off.”

“Are you freaking serious right now, Lukas? You can’t just do that, I’m not going to have any time to study!”

“Relax, Emil.” Lukas opened the closet and grabbed a few shirts. He tossed most of them over his shoulder before finding one he deemed suitable and handing it to the younger. “You’ll do fine on the test, trust me.”

“Why should I trust you? You turned off my freaking alarm.”

“Only because you were sleeping so peacefully.”

“You just officially crossed into creeper territory. Now go away, so I can change.”

“Nope.”

“God, why am I dating you again?” He threw his door open and walked down the hallway to the bathroom.

“Because I’m hot and convenient,” Lukas called after him.

After he was dressed and his hair was combed, he rushed into the kitchen to grab a granola bar.

“You should stay here and take care of me,” Lukas said, sitting at the table. “I think I might be coming down with something.”

“Yeah, maggots.”

“That was a good one.”

“I’m not skipping this test, and I don’t understand why you want me to.”

“You wouldn’t be skipping the test, just giving yourself extra time to study.”

“You’re so full of it. I’ve gotta go.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“You are not.”

He did. Emil had no idea why, but Lukas actually followed him onto the bus and to school. He understood when the ghost began reciting formulas for him. “That’s probably not going to help me, you know,” he whispered as they walked into the school. Several people shivered when they walked through Lukas, feeling a sudden chill.

Mathias was really surprised to both of them at lunch, Lukas sitting stiffly at the end of the table. He carefully sat on Emil’s other side, observing that Matthew hadn’t noticed the supernatural presence next to his friend.

“Are you ready for that test?” he asked, and Emil shrugged glumly.

“I’m ready to do horribly.”

Lukas poked him lightly in the arm, sending a freezing jolt through him. _I swear, it’s like he can control how cold he makes people_.

“What’s going on?” Mathias whispered in his ear when Mathew was busy eating. Emil shrugged, nodding his head towards Lukas in an _ask him_ gesture.

“I don’t want him stressing out about this test” was the only explanation the ghost gave.

Finally, it was time for the test, and Emil was practically shaking. “You shouldn’t help me cheat,” he whispered to Lukas.

“You shouldn’t get this worked up about a test.”

“That’s easy for you to say, you’re a genius.”

“Who told you that?”

“It’s, um, pretty obvious.”

He took a seat at his desk, and Lukas hovered over his shoulder. He figured it wasn’t his fault if the ghost helped him after he had just told him not to. Still, he worried that someone would somehow notice the dead boy whispering answers, or that the teacher would suspect him of cheating.

He was so worried, in fact, that his mind went blank the second he had the test in front of him. He gripped his pencil tightly, trying to make sense of the formulas Lukas was telling him to use. Frustrated tears sprung to his eyes again, and he took a deep breath to try to calm himself.

Lukas sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Just this once,” he whispered. Emil’s shoulder felt really cold, and then all of a sudden it was like he had been doused with ice water. His body froze up then relaxed, but he wasn’t at all relaxed. His pencil moved across the page, but he wasn’t willing it to. All he could do for the next fifty-five minutes was watch his test be completed by…himself? He felt very cold and very, very confused.

Emil (well, Emil’s body at least) handed in his test and sat back down in his seat. He felt something pulling, and then the cold was gone. However, it was soon replaced by dizziness and nausea. He slumped over onto his desk, blood rushing in his ears, and didn’t hear the teacher ask if he was alright.

The next thing he knew, one of his classmates was helping him get to the nurse’s office. His arm was over the other boy’s – Xiao’s? – shoulders, and he felt a cool arm around his waist. The arm disappeared once he was lying down in the office. The nurse gave him a wet washcloth to hold to his face and a bucket to hurl into. Which he did, unfortunately. Afterwards, he lay on his back, shaking slightly.

Mathias entered the nurse’s office, looking worried.

“Oh, hi, Mathias!” greeted the nurse happily.

“Hi, Mrs. Kobevko, is Emil Steilsson in here?”

“Yes, I was just about to call his parents to take him home.”

"I can do that, I’m done with classes for the day, and both of his parents are at work anyway.”

Emil zoned out, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. He felt a cool hand press to his forehead, so he opened his eyes to see Lukas looking down at him worriedly.

“Are you alright?” he asked quietly. Emil nodded slightly and sat up. The room spun a little, but at least he didn’t throw up again.

“Hey, Emil, I’m gonna take you home,” Mathias said, offering him a hand. He took it and stood up shakily, leaning against the older for support. Lukas then had Emil lean against him, so Mathias could grab both of their backpacks. The scene must have looked strange to someone who couldn’t see ghosts, because the nurse gave them a strange look.

Mathias was silent all the way out of the school and across the parking lot to his car. But as soon as they had the doors closed, he exploded.

“What the hell were you thinking, possessing him like that?” he demanded, looking back at Lukas. “Do you realize how dangerous that could have been?”

“What do you know about possession?” Lukas spat back defensively.

“What do _you_?”

As they began to argue, Emil absentmindedly reached into his coat pocket, feeling something hard and square. He pulled out the CD case and inspected it. _Oh right, that scary guy gave this to me._ He opened the case and popped the CD into Mathias’s stereo. They stopped arguing when they heard the music start. It was something Emil had heard on the radio a few times when he was younger but had never remembered. The next song came on, and Mathias pulled out of the parking lot.

“I used to listen to these songs,” Lukas said quietly when the third song started. “Where did you get this CD?” he asked when they arrived at Emil’s house, and he had recognized every one of the songs.

“Someone who knew you stopped by yesterday,” Emil said slowly, finally feeling like himself again. “He gave it to me.”

“Who? I made this for one person.”

“Berwald.”

Silence, once again, cold, dead silence. “Let me see the case,” Lukas said finally.

Emil showed it to him. He hadn’t actually looked at it, himself. Small, precise letters spelled out the track list, and at the top they read “For Berwald.”

More silence.

“You spoke to Berwald. And you didn’t tell me.” His voice was slow and steady, as if he had practiced that kind of control extensively.

“I tried to invite him in, but he just wanted to see the outside of the house.”

“And what all did you two talk about?”

“Um, not a whole lot…”

“Emil, what did you talk about?”

“Lukas, don’t get mad at him,” Mathias cut in, reaching around his seat to dig through his backpack. “I found something interesting at the library today.”

He pulled out an old newspaper and presented the front page. There was a picture of Lukas wearing glasses and a serious expression. The headline stretched across the top of the page: “Tragic Suicide of Honors Student; Parents Blame Bullying.”

“Lukas Thomassen, age 17, was found hung in his room on Friday afternoon,” the article began. “Thomassen was a straight A student with plans to study quantum physics at…”

_Physics, Berwald had thought about studying physics._ Emil stared in shock at the ghost in the backseat who was giving them both an indifferent look. “Honestly, I’m not sure what you were expecting,” he said flatly. “I’m a ghost, obviously that means I died somehow.”

“We were just a little curious about the somehow, and possibly the why,” Mathias explained. “We’re supposed to be dating, but we barely know anything about you.”

“You could have just asked me.” Lukas looked at Emil. “Is that why you spoke with Berwald yesterday?”

“Er, yes.”

“Why wouldn’t you just ask me? It’s not exactly a secret that someone spray painted ‘fag’ on my locker and car, or that my parents told me they wouldn’t accept a gay son, no matter how smart I am. _Was_.”

“It’s sort of a sensitive topic…” Mathias said.

“So obviously the answer was to go find other sources. I’m not a mine field that you guys have to step carefully around, I’ve had five years to make peace with myself and my suicide.”

Lukas slipped out of the car and into the house. Emil and Mathias exchanged a look.

“We really fucked that up,” Emil said quietly.

“We sure did.”

“I…I’m not sure what to do.”

“I think we need to go apologize. But first, are you alright?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine.”

“No, I mean after the whole possession thing. Do you feel dizzy or nauseous still?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

They didn’t find him in his/Emil’s room, nor in any other room in the house. They finally found him in the backyard, laying out on the grass with his eyes closed.

“I can’t feel the sun,” he said, keeping them closed. “I can’t feel the breeze either. I can feel you two and any objects I touch, but not the sun or the breeze.”

“I’m sorry I went behind your back,” Emil said, sitting down next to him. “I should’ve told you that I talked to Berwald.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Mathias said, sitting on his other side. “I should’ve just asked you.”

“Oh, hell, I can’t get that mad at you two, you’re the only ones who can see me.” Lukas opened his eyes and looked at them both one at a time before looking up at the sky. “For a while after I died, I thought I was in hell.”

“Why’s that?” Emil asked.

“Berwald came by the house after the funeral, and I thought he could see me. I tried to talk to him, but he ran out.”

“He could see you?”

“I don’t think he could fully see me, but he could definitely tell there was a presence. Five years of no contact with anyone…I thought my parents knew I was in the house still, and that’s why they wouldn’t sell it. And then I met you two within twenty-four hours of each other.”

“Berwald said he thought about studying physics,” Emil blurted out.

“Oh, god, I would hate him if he did that for me.”

“He didn’t, he’s studying nuclear engineering.”

“Good, that’ll be good for him.” Lukas closed his eyes again. “He’s probably almost finished with college now.”

“That’s what he told me.”

Lukas sighed. “Alright, go ahead and ask.”

“Ask what?” Mathias asked.

“Why I, an honors student with a promising future and only a year left of high school, decided to end it all.”

“Wasn’t it because of the bullying?”

"That’s what my parents would have everyone believe. Sure, the bullying didn’t help, but it was nothing compared to what they put me through. My whole life, they imposed their expectations on me, and they always found some way that I had disappointed them. No matter how hard I studied, my grades weren’t good enough for them. And then they found out about Berwald, and they were ready to disown me. After everything I had sacrificed and achieved in order to make them proud, they told me they were disgusted by me. And then they had the nerve to cry when I died.”

“Maybe that means that they still loved you, in their own way,” Mathias said quietly.

“That’s a pretty shitty way to love somebody.”

“I’m sorry,” Emil said.

“Don’t say that. Like I said, I’ve had five years to make my peace with things. I’m over it all.”

“Are you really?” Mathias asked.

“I don’t think you’re being entirely truthful with us,” Emil added.

“Of course, I’m not,” Lukas said, sitting up. A shimmering tear rolled down his cheek. “I miss being alive. Sure, my life sort of sucked, but if I had just waited another year or so…” He took a deep breath. “But there’s no use thinking about what could have been.”

Emil hugged the ghost tightly, and Mathias did the same. “You’re allowed to be upset about it still,” said the latter.

“You don’t have to pretend with us,” Emil said.

“I have been pretending for a very long time.”

“Well, this is like a new life for you.” Lukas snorted, and Emil rolled his eyes. “I’m serious. You don’t have to act the same as you did when you were alive.”

“Thanks, you two. You’re pretty good boyfriends, I guess.”

“Your vote of confidence is overwhelming,” Emil said drily, resting his head on Lukas’s shoulder.

“I told you, no sad boyfriends on my watch!” Mathias said, smiling.

They held each other for a while, watching the clouds roll by.

“You two feel so warm,” Lukas said quietly. “It’s almost like feeling the sun again.”

“You know,” Mathias said slowly, “if this Berwald guy could sense your presence, that means he might be one of us, too.”

“You mean, like a, oh what’s the word, a medium?” Emil asked.

“That’s a lot mediums from one area,” Lukas commented. “Must be something in the water. Unless you’re all related.”

“We’re definitely not,” Emil said firmly. “But this might mean that there are even more mediums out there.”

“That’d be cool, and maybe he knows some.”

“I wouldn’t count on it. Berwald was always freaked out by anything supernatural. It’s a cruel irony that I’m now a ghost.”

“Well, maybe he’ll stop by again,” Emil suggested.

“If he does, feel free to ask him about any heebie-jeebies he feels. But no more talking about me.”

“I won’t.”


	4. Chapter 4

It was almost time for the town’s annual Halloween fest. It was a party of sorts thrown in the community rec center the night before Halloween. The town had started the tradition after one particularly nasty Mischief Night, and it worked pretty well to deter any shenanigans. Nearly every person in town, young and old, attended the fest in full costume, played games, and got free candy.

Emil and Matthew went together every year, and this year they had planned to dress up as Vikings together. However, now that Emil’s ghostly boyfriend would probably be there, too, Matthew wasn’t so sure. It hadn’t escaped Emil’s attention that his best friend was nervous in his new house that was currently being haunted by said boyfriend. He understood, of course, how creepy it would be to know there was a ghost hanging around and not be able to see him. Emil had told Matthew years ago that he could see and talk to ghosts, but the other boy hadn’t really believed him until Lukas showed up, so he just wasn’t used to the fact that ghosts were real yet.

“Please, Mattie, we always go together,” Emil protested at lunch. “We’ve got our costumes and everything.”

“But if you’re going with Mathias and Lukas, won’t it be weird for me to tag along?”

“No, Mathias has to work at the dunk tank for a while, and it’ll look like I’m all alone if I just go with Lukas. Please, I’ll make sure Lukas doesn’t poke you or anything.”

“Well, alright, but you have to promise he won’t touch me.”

This was also understandable, because ghosts felt cold and clammy, and no normal person wanted to be touched by one. Or to make out with one. Woops. Although Matthew had been more surprised by the fact that Emil was dating both Mathias and Lukas than by the fact that he had made out with his spectral roommate, so he couldn’t really talk about being normal. So they decided to meet at the rec center at 6, which was when Mathias would start his dunk tank shift.

Lukas was practically bouncing around the room as Emil got ready. “I didn’t know you could even get this excited,” he commented as the ghost dug through his closet.

“This is my time of year. Isn’t Halloween when ghosts are supposed to walk down the street with you breathers?”

“‘Breathers?’”

“Plus we’ll get to see Mathias get dunked into cold water.”

“Ah, so that’s it. You know, you’re kind of a sadistic boyfriend.”

“Just be glad I don’t want to see you sopping wet. Actually…”

“Not going to happen. What the heck are you looking for?”

“A costume. I was thinking the classic white-sheet ghost look.”

“Ghosts aren’t supposed to wear costumes.”

“Oh, come on, can’t you just taste the irony? It’s delicious.”

“You’re so weird. Hold on, stop throwing my shoes around, I’ll go look for a sheet.”

He found some white fabric and a pair of scissors in his mom’s craft supplies and left them with Lukas while he went to the bathroom to change into his costume. It was a little annoying that he couldn’t undress in his own room, but that’s what he got for sharing a room with an asshole ghost. But after living in this house for a couple of months, they had gotten most of the boundaries worked out.

When he returned to his room, Lukas had cut two eye-holes in the sheet and had it thrown over his head.

“You cut it too short,” said the younger. “I can see the bottoms of your feet.”

“I know, that’s the point.”

“And the eye-holes are too big. You realize that no one else will be able to see you under the sheet, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the point.”

The younger thought about it for a second. Everyone but he and Mathias would see an empty, floating sheet, but only if they paid close enough attention. “That’s…a great idea, actually.”

“Of course, it is.”

Mathias picked them up at 5:30, raising an eyebrow at Lukas’s costume.

“Don’t give me that look,” said the ghost. “You’re not even wearing a costume. No, wait,” he said, assessing the other boy’s tank top and shorts. “I get it, you’re going as a douchebag, right?”

“No, this is how I always dress,” Mathias said, looking down at his clothes. “Hey, wait. Okay, get out, I’m not giving you a ride.”

“Don’t start this, guys,” Emil complained. “Can we just agree that both of your costumes suck?” Sometimes he didn’t understand how Mathias and Lukas could date when they could barely get along. Well, they certainly had chemistry.

They found Matthew standing outside the rec center, so Mathias said goodbye and ran off to start his shift. Poor Matthew was staring wide-eyed at the floating sheet next to Emil. “Is this…?” he said quietly.

“Yeah, that’s Lukas,” Emil said, rolling his eyes. The sheet raised a little as Lukas waved at the boy, revealing more of his feet. Or, to Matthew, more of what wasn’t there.

“Um, nice costume, Lukas,” he said.

"I would say thank you, but you can’t hear me anyway.”

“He says thanks.”

They walked around the rec center, mostly ignoring the ghost, since they couldn’t really talk to him anyway. They saw Matthew’s brother, Alfred, and a bunch of his friends and walked around with them for a while before they ran into Emil’s mom working at the bean-bag toss.

“Hi, Emil! Hi, Mattie!” she said, waving happily. “Oh, who’s your friend?”

"Oh, this is…Niklas,” Emil said quickly. “He’s in, um, pre-calc with me.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Niklas.” Lukas raised a sheet-covered hand in response. “Looks like you waited until the last minute to decide on a costume,” laughed Emil’s mom, to which the ghost just shrugged.

“Hello, Mrs. Steilsson,” Lukas said drily. “You should probably know that I’m haunting your house and hanging around your son’s room. Also we’re dating. Nice to meet you.”

“Um, he’s kind of shy,” Emil whispered to his mom, who hadn’t heard a word the ghost said.

“Oh, that’s alright! Do you boys want to play bean toss?”

Matthew and Emil did and won a lot of candy, but Lukas abstained.

They made their way to the dunk tank, where they found Mathias completely dry.

“Yep, no one has been able to dunk me yet,” he told them, winking.

“You have it rigged, don’t you?” Lukas said, but the other boy ignored him. “Emil, I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?” Emil asked as the sheet-covered ghost walked away.

“Where is he going?” Matthew asked his friend.

“No idea.”

They got in line and watched as everyone else threw the ball at the target and missed. Only one person hit it, but it didn’t hit hard enough to send Mathias into the cold water below him. When it was time for the person in front of Emil to go, Lukas returned without the sheet. He walked right up to the dunk tank and smiled at Mathias, who was doing his best to ignore his dead boyfriend. The person in front of Emil hit the target, but it once again wasn’t hard enough to dunk Mathias. He, however, looked increasingly nervous as Lukas continued to smile at him and Emil stepped up to try.

The boy did his best throw, but it just barely hit the target. However, Lukas reached out and punched the target hard, and Mathias finally fell into the cold water.

“Woah,” Matthew said, “I’m not sure how you did that.” The other boy turned around and winked at his friend, laughing. Lukas walked away again, laughing as well, and came back with the sheet back over his head.

“I guess that means my shift is over,” Mathias said, exiting the tank. “Oh look, a floating towel just for me!” He threw his arms around Lukas, rubbing his wet hair against the sheet.

“Quit it, idiot, you’re ruining my costume,” Lukas protested, trying to pull away without losing the sheet. He suddenly froze, going deadly silent.

“What’s up?” Emil asked, stepping towards him and Mathias.

“Isn’t that…?” Mathias began, looking across the rec center. Emil followed his line of sight and found a freakishly tall man with a stern expression at the duck pond game.

“Oh,” Emil said, feeling a little like someone had punched him. He could only imagine how Lukas must be feeling.

“What’s going on?” Matthew asked him quietly.

“Someone Lukas knew is here,” Emil whispered to him.

“Oh, you know what? I think I’m gonna go find Alfred again,” his friend said quickly, stepping backwards. “I’ll see you guys later, okay?”

“Sorry, Mattie,” said the other boy quietly, but he shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll go trick-or-treating together tomorrow.”

He walked away just as Berwald turned and saw them, recognition flashing across his face. Emil raised his hand in a weak wave, and he did the same. A smaller man next to Berwald turned and looked at them then gave the taller man a curious look.

“I, um, think they’re coming over here,” Emil said. “We could probably make a break for it.”

“No, it’s…it’s fine,” Lukas said quietly.

“Hey, Emil,” Berwald said gruffly when he had made his way over to them.

“Hey, Berwald,” Emil responded uncomfortably. “Um, thanks for the CD. You were right, it is damn good music.”

“Mh.”

“Thanks,” Lukas said blandly, and the two men looked at the sheet.

“Oh, um, this is my friend Niklas,” Emil said quickly. “And this is Mathias. He’s not in costume, because he just got out of the dunk tank.”

“’m Berwald.”

“Um, nice to meetcha,” Mathias said.

“I’m Tino,” said the smaller man with a smile. “You’re the one who moved into the Thomassens’ old house, right?”

“Yep, that’s me.” Emil looked between the two. “So are you two—?”

“Friends,” Berwald said quickly.

“Ah. So what are you doing here?”

“Berwald’s parents are working at the fishing game,” Tino explained, “so we came to visit. We don’t have anything like this in my town, so this is really fun!”

Maybe if they hadn’t been so caught up with Lukas’s ex-(sort of?) boyfriend, they would have seen the kids running toward them. They ran right through their little group, making them all take a step back. But one of the kids tripped, and what should he grab onto but Lukas’s sheet? He went down, and so did the sheet.

Time stopped for a few seconds. Emil looked at Lukas first, then the kid who was staring at thin air, then at Berwald, who had grabbed onto Tino’s arm.

“Ah, um, wow, Emil, your magic tricks are getting really good!” Mathias said loudly, laughing nervously. “Are you okay, little buddy?” He helped the kid to his feet, and the child just brushed him off and ran away.

“Lu…kas?” Berwald said quietly.

Emil and Mathias looked between the other three in shock. The five of them stood there in silence for several awful moments.

“Um!” Tino said finally. “I think we should go, um, somewhere else and talk.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Mathias agreed. “There’s a park across the street from here that should be empty right now.”

He ducked behind the dunk tank and grabbed his car keys and a towel. Then the five of them walked out of the rec center together. They did find the park to be deserted, so they sat in a circle in the grass. Neither Tino nor Berwald found it strange that Emil and Mathias were leaving a spot open for the ghost.

“So, you two can see ghosts, too,” Tino said.

“Yeah…” Emil said slowly.

“You two can, too?” Mathias asked.

“Yeah, everyone in my family is a medium.”

“You can see me, Berwald?” Lukas asked very quietly. The man nodded silently, his eyes never leaving the ghost.

“Berwald and I met about three years ago when he came to ask about seeing ghosts. He didn’t have a lot of ability as a medium then, so he couldn’t see them clearly, which was pretty scary for him! Oh, sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that. Anyway, I’ve been helping him train, so he can see and even hear ghosts now!” Tino took a deep breath and fell silent.

“Wait, so you’re like, a professional spirit medium?” Mathias asked.

“Yep! Well, I’m trained to be one, but I don’t work as one. I’m actually studying to be an interior designer, which I know is pretty different from ghosts, but—”

“Tino,” Berwald mumbled.

“Oh, sorry, I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”

“I think we need to address the elephant in the room,” Emil said. “Or rather, the ghost.”

“Tino said you’re probably a ghost,” Berwald said. “I didn’t wanna believe him.”

“You saw me once,” Lukas responded. “Or, at least, you almost did.”

“Wait, how would you know that he became a ghost?” Mathias asked Tino.

“Oh, don’t you know? Everyone who kills themselves cannot rest in peace.”

“I wish I had known that _beforehand_ ,” Lukas said bitterly.

“Is that the only thing that would have stopped you?” Berwald asked, standing up suddenly. Everyone else stood up and watched as he paced back and forth. “Not that full-ride scholarship you got? Not the fact that we were almost done with high school? Not even me?” His voice broke, and he stopped pacing. “I had no idea that you were considering…And I’ve spent the last five years wondering what I could have done to stop you.”

“I, um…” Lukas bit his lip and looked down, crossing his arms. “Sorry about that.”

Berwald punched him in the face, sending the ghost down onto his back. Lukas sat up, holding his nose. “That’s better,” he said. “Guilt doesn’t suit you, Berwald.”

The man frowned at him then suddenly began laughing. “You’re an ass, Lukas Thomassen,” he said, holding out a hand to him. Lukas took it, starting to pull himself up, but Berwald quickly dropped his hand, and he went crashing back to the ground. “Sorry, forgot…You’re not warm anymore.”

“Nope, I’m cold as the grave.”

Berwald chuckled, trying once again to help the ghost to his feet. “I see your sense of humor isn’t dead. You haven’t changed a bit, actually.”

“Yes, I’ve been told that I’m still hot.” Lukas nudged Emil, making him blush furiously.

“I didn’t say that!” he protested angrily.

“I believe your exact words were that you were ‘sharing a room with a hot ghost.’”

“So is that why you were asking about him when we met?” Berwald asked, his intense gaze suddenly turned on Emil.

“Um, yes,” he said uncomfortably. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“You’re still haunting your old house?” Tino asked Lukas.

“Eh, if you could call it that. It’s not like I make the floor shake or the walls bleed.”

“And you’re okay with that, Mathias?”

“Huh? Um, yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Oh, I thought that you and Emil were, um, dating.”

“We are,” Emil said. “But Lukas and I—” He stopped, suddenly realizing how awkward it would be to talk about his relationship with Lukas in front of his old boyfriend, especially since they hadn’t ever officially broken up. Or did dying count as an official breakup?

“We’re dating, too,” Lukas finished for him, putting a cold arm around his shoulder. “Oh, Berwald, I need to tell you that I think we should see other people.”

“Right,” Berwald said, smiling slightly. “You’re a little young for me, anyway.”

Lukas pulled away from Emil to give the tall man a hug. Berwald wrapped his arms around the ghost, flinching slightly. “Feels weird,” he mumbled.

“Well, I haven’t showered in, like, five years. I’m covered in dirt.” Berwald chuckled again, holding him close.

“Why did you do it, Lukas?”

“I’ll tell you some other time, Berwald.” Lukas took a slow breath. “I wish I hadn’t, but…” He pulled away from the man and wrapped his arms around Emil and Mathias. “Because I did, I got to meet these two cuties.”

“You think I’m cute?” Mathias asked happily.

“Don’t push it.”

“I’m happy for you, Lukas,” Berwald said.

"I hope you’re happy for yourself, too,” Lukas said, putting his hands on his hips.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Good. So, nuclear engineering, huh?”

“Better than quantum physics.”

“Oh?”

“’Least I can get a job with a B.A.”

“I don’t need a job.”

“Touché.”

“Why don’t we go back to the Halloween fest?” Mathias suggested.

“Nah,” Lukas said, “it’s probably dead in there now.”

They all laughed, walking back to the rec center. It was almost empty, so they walked to their cars. Before parting, they exchanged numbers, and Lukas whispered something in Berwald’s ear which made him blush. “What did you say to him?” Emil asked when they were in Mathias’s car.

“I told him to get on that Tino guy before he gets away,” he replied, smirking.

“Are you doing okay? After all of that, I mean.”

“Yeah, but my nose is a little sore.”

“I’m serious, Lukas.”

“I am, too. I didn’t know he could throw a punch like that.”

“You’re being pretty evasive.”

“Well, I am a ghost.”

“Okay, fine.” Emil huffed, crossing his arms. Lukas draped himself over the back of the seat, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend.

“You’re so cute when you’re annoyed,” he said, poking the boy in the cheek.

“I thought you said I look cuter when I smile.”

“You do. You almost gave me a heart-attack when I first met you.”

“Lukas,” Mathias chided gently. “Are you really alright?”

“No,” he sighed. “Well, I’m only slightly not alright, which means I’m mostly alright.”

Mathias pulled the car over into the next parking lot and killed the engine.

“What are you doing?” Lukas asked.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Mathias said, unbuckling his seatbelt and climbing into the backseat. “No sad boyfriends on my watch.” He grabbed the ghost and started tickling him.

“Stop that,” Lukas demanded, trying to wriggle free. “I’m dead, I’m not ticklish.”

“Somehow I don’t believe that. Emil, are you just going to sit up there, or are you going to get back here and join in?”

Emil scrambled over the console, accidentally landing on Lukas’s lap. But this just held the ghost in place during their assault, and he finally let out a series of quiet giggles. The sound rang happily through the car, making the other two smile brightly. They let up on their attack, leaning in to place kisses all over his face.

“How not alright are you now?” Emil asked.

“Barely even noticeable.”

“Good,” Mathias said, nuzzling against Lukas’s neck.

“Let’s go, you sappy idiots,” he said, smiling. “It’s probably past your bedtimes.”

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” Emil declared.

“Well, you’d better start sleeping with one eye open,” Lukas warned. “Revenge may come at any moment.”


	5. Chapter 5

Halloween was Emil’s parents’ favorite holiday. His mom had made all of their costumes, including Emil’s and Matthew’s, and every year they went all out in decorating their house. This year was no different, and they were having, in Emil’s opinion, too much fun manning the door and scaring trick-or-treaters. Emil’s mom sat outside the door, directing kids with a smile to “just grab some candy out of that bowl there.” Emil’s dad played the stuffed scarecrow who held the bowl and jumped when the kids went to grab some treats.

Emil and Matthew had only spent about an hour trick-or-treating, since they still had a lot of candy from the town’s Halloween fest. They took over the Steilssons’ living room, dumping all of their candy into a pile between them on the couch and watching horror movies. Lukas had tagged along with Mathias and his friends, so they were left in peace, at least for a little while. They were near the end of _A Nightmare on Elm Street_ when the lights began to flicker on and off. Matthew jumped and stared with wide eyes at Emil.

“Are you doing that?” he asked nervously.

“No, I live in a haunted house, remember?” Emil replied, turning around to look at his ghostly boyfriend who stood at the light switch. “You’re back early.”

“That idiot’s friends are even douchier than he is,” Lukas said coolly. “Should I go help your parents scare the neighbors?”

“Go for it.” Lukas smiled deviously and disappeared through the front door.

“Is he gone?” Matthew asked.

“Yeah.” Emil sighed to himself. His best friend rarely spent time at his new house, since he was uncomfortable about there being a ghost he couldn’t see lurking around. Well, whatever, they would just spend more time at the Joneses’.

They finished the movie (and half of the candy), and then Matthew had to leave. No sleepovers at the haunted house…

“Hey, Mattie!” Emil’s mom greeted happily when they stepped outside. “Do you need a ride home?”

“No, thanks, my brother and his friends are on their way. I’m just gonna walk home with them.”

“Want some candy, boys?” asked Emil’s dad. “I promise not to scare you.”

“No, no more candy,” Emil groaned, holding his stomach. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lukas kneeling behind one of the fake skeletons on the lawn.

“So where’s Mathias tonight?”

“He’s out with his other friends. Why?”

“No reason. You two have just been spending a lot more time together lately.”

“Well, they are dating,” Matthew said, looking confused.

“Mattie!” Emil exclaimed in horror.

“I knew it!” Emil’s dad smiled widely.

“You guys didn’t know yet?” Matthew asked. “Crap! I’m sorry, Emil!”

“Don’t worry, Mattie, we had already guessed,” Emil’s mom said, smiling. “In fact, we had a bet with the Køhlers on how long it would take them to tell us.”

“And you just won us 40 bucks! Here, take some candy!”

“You guys already knew?” Emil asked incredulously. He glared at his friend, who was still mouthing silent apologies.

“Oh, Emil, sweetie, don’t be mad. We’re happy for you!”

“Yeah, you sure got a catch.”

“Stop it,” Emil groaned, burying his red face in his hands. It didn’t help that Lukas had heard the whole thing and was suppressing a laugh at Emil’s expense.

While Emil’s dad babbled on about how great it was that his son was dating his best friend’s son, Matthew’s brother, Alfred, and his friends showed up. Lukas picked up the skeleton’s arm and made it wave at them. One of them, Francis, jumped, grabbing onto the closest person, Arthur to be exact. He watched in horror as the skeleton stood up and started dancing, but when the others turned to look, it had returned to its spot on the grass.

Matthew put his Viking helmet on and went to join them, waving sheepishly to Emil. Suddenly, the music his parents had been playing cut out. Lukas grinned at his boyfriend as he fiddled with the iPod. Even though he had been dead for five years, he apparently still knew how to work YouTube, because some song about “spooky, scary skeletons” began to play.

“Did you do that, Emil?” asked his mom, to which he simply shook his head.

“Must be a ghost,” his dad said with a glint in his eye.

“Wouldn’t you love that, dear.”

Matthew and company left, so Emil stayed outside with his parents. However, they had either run out of trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood, or the previous kids had warned everyone else, because no one else showed up.

“You want there to be a ghost around, Dad?” Emil asked.

“Of course! Didn’t I tell you? It’s always been my dream to live in a haunted house.”

“Instead, we ended up with _my_ dream house,” his mom laughed.

“Boy, do I have news for you guys,” said Lukas from the stereo. He casually flipped it back to the Steilssons’ Halloween mix. “Although it probably wasn’t part of your dream to have your son dating a ghost.”

“But we’re getting away from the important things,” Emil’s dad said with a straight face before giving a smug smile. “How long have you and Mathias been going out?”

“I’m not having this conversation,” Emil groaned.

“Why didn’t you just tell us, sweetheart?”

“It’s…” _Don’t say_ it’s complicated, _that’ll just make them curious._ “It’s not a big deal.”

“Honey, he’s your first boyfriend, of course it’s a big deal!”

“ _No_.”

“I guess this means we’ll all have to have a little sit-down.” Emil’s dad stroked his chin pensively. “We’ll have to set some ground rules for you two.”

“Dad…”

“We don’t want Mathias accidentally getting you pregnant.”

“ _Dad!_ ”

“Nothing to be embarrassed about, kiddo. Just make sure you use protection!”

“That’s it, I’m going to bed.” Emil stood up, doing his best to ignore Lukas’s snickering behind him.

“Oh, Emil, I’m just joking, I know two boys can’t make a baby!”

He turned and glared at his parents. His dad grinned at him, and his mom was doing her best not to laugh as well. “ _Good night_ ,” he hissed, walking into the house.

And he should have known. He should have _known_ that Lukas wouldn’t forget about the night before. But Emil was so flustered that he didn’t think about his threat of revenge. So he readied himself for bed, still seething about his dad, and he climbed into bed and turned out the lights without so much as a word to his spectral roommate. And he fell asleep, at least for a little bit.

A little after midnight, he was awakened by a pressure on his stomach. He tried to roll over to go back to sleep, but the pressure wouldn’t move. Then he was suddenly being tickled, and that definitely woke him up. He squirmed underneath the covers, trying not to laugh too loudly. That would be a hard thing to explain to his parents if they heard him. Lukas smirked down at him then leaned down and muffled his giggles with his own lips.

Emil refused to return the kiss until Lukas ceased his attack, at which point he kissed him with fervor. Maybe even a little too much fervor, because Lukas pressed down on him eagerly, making Emil release a soft sound. Lukas sat up, smirking at him again. 

"You're an asshole," Emil whispered.

"To be fair, I did warn you."

"Mathias was the one who started it, why don't you go bug him?"

"I already got my revenge on him when I was out with him earlier."

"You were tickling him in front of his friends?" Emil sat up, and his boyfriend rolled off of him. 

"I might have been. But then he told me to leave him alone."

"So when you came home early, it's really because he told you to."

"That's not true," Lukas said indignantly. "I'm not some ghost who can just be ordered about. I came home, because I wanted to."

"Uh huh, sure."

Lukas flicked him on the arm, sending a chill through him. "Jerk," Emil muttered, shivering. But then Lukas kissed him again, and he didn't feel nearly so cold. 

"So the cat's out of the bag about you and Mathias," Lukas asked. 

"Does that bother you?" Emil asked somewhat breathlessly. 

"Why should it?"

"My parents know about Mathias and not about you."

"No, that doesn't bother me. This way, you don't have to explain having two boyfriends." He ran a cold hand through Emil's hair absentmindedly. "And they don't have to know that I live in your room."

"You don't live anywhere."

"That's true. I guess that makes me homeless, since I don't have anywhere to live.”

“Can I ask you something?” Emil asked, turning onto his side to look at Lukas.

“I don’t see why not.”

“You wore glasses when you were alive, didn’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“Did you not have them when you became a ghost? I mean, I think most people’s ghosts are how they saw themselves, so usually if they wore glasses…”

“I did have them, but I don’t need them anymore, so I don’t wear them.”

“Oh, okay.”

“What, do you have a thing for glasses?”

“No, I don’t.” Emil blushed, and Lukas smiled at him smugly.

“No need to be shy about it.” He just smiled wider when Emil glared at him. “I still have them stashed around here somewhere. If you can find them, I’ll wear them for you.”

“I don’t have a thing for glasses!”

“Whatever you say.”

Emil tried to go back to sleep, but he was now wide awake. Sighing, he got out of bed and turned on the lights.

“What are you doing?” Lukas asked.

“I’m up now, thanks to you, so I might as well look for them.”

“I knew it.”

“Shut up.”

Emil walked around the room, trying to think of where the ghost would have hidden his glasses. He ran his hand along the top of his bookshelf, feeling for them. “They’re not there,” Lukas said, watching him from the bed. Then Emil kneeled down to look under the bed. “Not there either.”

“Are they at least in this room?”

“Yep, luckily for you, I didn’t stick them in your parents’ room or something.” Emil moved to the closet and opened the door. “You’re getting warmer now.” He groaned, looking at the mess of shoes and clothing inside.

He started by looking on the shelves along the back wall of the closet. No glasses, and Lukas had stopped giving him hints. So then he cleaned out everything on the floor of the closet, but he still didn’t find them. “Are they not in here?” he asked finally.

“They are, you’re just not looking hard enough.”

Emil groaned again and looked through the entire closet one more time. There, in the back corner, the carpet was turned up slightly. He pulled it back and found a hole in the floor with a shoebox inside. “Bingo,” said Lukas quietly, standing in the doorway to the closet. He sat down on the floor next to Emil and watched as the boy pulled the box out and opened it.

Inside, he found an assortment of CDs, a handful of photographs, and a pair of spectral spectacles. He took the glasses out, careful not to look at any of the pictures, and handed them to his boyfriend.

“You can look at them,” Lukas said, putting the glasses on. “It’s a sort of time capsule that I made before…”

“Maybe another time,” Emil said, placing the box back into the floor and replacing the carpet. “You look weird with those on.”

“You’re the one who wanted to see them.”

“I didn’t say they look _bad_ , just weird. Like you’re a different person.”

“Maybe I am.” Lukas looked distant for a moment before giving Emil a smile. “So you like them.”

“Don’t get any weird ideas.”

“I’m not the one with the glasses fetish.”

“I do _not_ have a glasses fetish!”

Emil awoke the next morning to find a bespectacled specter staring at him. “Please tell me you don’t watch me while I’m sleeping,” he said.

“I have better things to do than watch you all night,” Lukas answered coolly.

“Oh yeah, like reorganizing my books.”

“Exactly. Speaking of things to do, what are you doing up this early on a Saturday?”

“Mathias has a game today, so I’m going to it.”

“Football?”

“Yep.”

“Gross.”

“You don’t have to come.”

“No, but I will, just for you.” Lukas leaned in and gave him a smooch on the cheek.

“Gee, thanks,” Emil said drily, rubbing his cheek. He got up and grabbed some clothes out of his closet.

“You really need to reassess your wardrobe. I will not be seen in public with you dressed like a slob.”

“You won’t be seen at all!”

“Still, it’s the principle of the thing.”

“If you’re just going to criticize me, maybe you should stay home. Matthew’s going to be there, and he won’t be happy if you’re around anyway.”

“I have a theory about my glasses.”

Emil looked at him sharply. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I promise it’s relevant.”

“Okay, then what’s your theory?”

“Well, it’s more of an idea than a theory. I don’t need my glasses anymore, so they’re rather superfluous. But what if they could give people the ability to see ghosts?”

“You mean, like, how I see ghosts? I don’t know how that would work.”

“It’s just a thought that I had sometime in the past five years. I mean, I can interact with people who can’t see me, at least to some extent, so why shouldn’t my glasses be any different?”

“I guess that makes sense, but even if they did make people see ghosts, people still wouldn’t be able to hear them.”

“True, unless they had a ghost’s hearing aid or something.”

“Now you’re being ridiculous, and I still don’t see what that has to do with –”

“We could try them on Matthew.”

“What?”

“If it worked, he’d be more comfortable around me, right?”

“Maybe, but that’s only if they work.”

“No harm in trying.”

“I guess not.”

Emil easily found Matthew sitting in the student section of the stands, since the game wouldn’t start for another hour, and few people had arrived yet. His best friend waved to him excitedly, smiling widely.

“You look happy,” Emil said when he sat down next to the other boy.

“I have a date tonight,” Matthew explained happily.

“Really? With whom?”

“Lilli Zwingli!”

“Oh, wow, I’m happy for you, Mattie!” Lilli was a year below them, but she was very pretty and really sweet. Plus now that her brother had moved away for college, it was no longer dangerous to talk to her.

“So, um, is Lukas here with you?” Matthew asked after he had finished rambled about Lilli.

“Yes,” Emil answered carefully. “Actually, there’s something I want to try.”

“What is it?” Matthew asked, his eyebrows immediately raising.

“Nothing weird!” replied the other boy quickly, putting his hands up. “I found his glasses, and I want to see if anything happens if you put them on.”

“Oh, I guess that’s okay then.”

Matthew took off his glasses and put them in his pocket. Emil took Lukas’s glasses from him and, after making sure no one was watching them, placed them on his friend’s face for him. Matthew blinked a few times, looking in surprise just over Emil’s shoulder.

“Can you see him?” Emil asked him quietly.

“Well, I can see him, but I can’t really _see_ him,” he replied, squinting. “Can I put my glasses back on?”

“He should be able to layer them right over my own,” Lukas mused.

“Try putting them on over the other ones,” Emil said.

Matthew did as he was asked and blinked even more over Emil’s shoulder. “Woah, I can see him,” he whispered.

Lukas gave him a small wave. “It’s too bad you can’t hear me. You’re missing out on all the dead jokes.”

They quieted as more people began filtering into the stands. A few more of their friends came and sat with them, and they all talked excitedly with each other. Emil had been so distracted with his new house, roommate, and boyfriends that he hadn’t talked to some of his friends in a while.

“I’m not staying long,” Natalya grumbled to Mei in the row in front of them. “I feel sick. Must be all the douchebags around here.”

“Or the ghosts,” said Lukas under his breath.

“Emil, isn’t that the guy from the other night?” Matthew asked suddenly, nodding over his shoulder.

Emil turned around and looked right at Berwald as he was walking by with Timo and an older couple. He met gazes with the man and gave a weak wave. Berwald returned the greeting, attracting his companions’ attention.

“Oh hi, Emil!” Timo said happily. “Nice to see you again.”

“Yeah,” Emil responded, shifting around to look at them. “I didn’t know you guys were still in town.”

“Yep, we’re going back tomorrow.”

“Hi, I’m Emil Steilsson,” he said to the older couple.

“Nice to meet you, Emil,” said the woman, smiling kindly. “We’re Berwald’s parents.”

“Is your dad Erik Steilsson?” asked the man. Emil nodded. “I used to work with him at the rec center. Is he still close to Christian Køhler?”

“Yeah, they’re still best friends.”

“So how do you know Berwald and Timo?”

“Well, it’s sort of a long story…”

“He lives in the Thomassens’ old place,” Berwald explained quietly, looking at the ghost next to Emil.

“Oh,” breathed his mom, suddenly solemn. “Well…it’s nice to know that they finally sold the house.”

“It’s fine,” Berwald mumbled. “Don’t need to make a big deal.”

 “Well, we should probably go find some seats,” Berwald’s dad said quickly.

“See you around, Emil,” Timo said, sending a silent smile to Lukas.

Emil was very aware that Lukas hadn’t cracked a single joke during that entire exchange. He remained silent, watching them walk away. “Why don’t you go with them?” he suggested under his breath. His ghostly boyfriend gave him a surprised look. “You don’t have to, but don’t you want to spend some time with him?”

“He and I were over a long time ago,” Lukas said.

“I’m not telling you to go make out with him, and if you did, I’d have to use Mrs. Køhler’s ghost repellants on you.”

Lukas snorted at that. “Alright, I get it. I’ll go hang out with people my own age.” He gave Emil a big smooch on the cheek, making him blush slightly. “Oh, but I would like my glasses back.”

“Mattie,” Emil grumbled, “take off your glasses.”

“Huh? Uh, okay.” The other boy took off his glasses, leaving the spectral glasses that he couldn’t see, and Lukas gently took them back. Matthew shivered when he felt the ghost’s fingers. “I thought we already agreed on no touching.”

“Sorry,” Emil apologized on behalf of his boyfriend, who had already left.

“Who was that anyway?”

“Lukas’s ex-boyfriend.”

“Really?” Matthew stared at him wide-eyed. “Well then, wow.”

“Yeah.” Emil shifted awkwardly, and luckily the game was about to start.

He didn’t know a whole lot about football, despite all the times Mathias had tried to explain it to him, but he could tell that his boyfriend was playing well. During half-time, he watched the older boy joke around with his teammates, and they all slapped him on the back with big smiles.

“Do you think Mathias is out of my league?” he asked Matthew.

“If he was, you wouldn’t be dating,” he answered.

“Wait, you’re dating Mathias Køhler?” Mei asked.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Since when?!”

“I guess it’s been about a month now.” Emil blushed as all of his friends turned to look at him, as well as some other people sitting around them. Great, now everyone would know. Emil wasn’t popular; he had a group of friends, but no one outside of that group knew him. He only knew Mathias, because their dads were best friends. He slouched over in his seat until everyone went back to their own business.

The second half of the game didn’t go so well. The team did its best, but the other team still won. The mood in the bleachers and on the field was really down compared to the first half, and the student section gave a collective sigh when the timer ran out. Emil followed his friends out of the stadium and found Berwald, Timo, and Lukas in the parking lot. With his glasses on, Lukas looked a lot older, like he had grown up with the other two. He was actually laughing with them, something that surprised Emil, so he tried to slip by them unnoticed.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Lukas said, suddenly in front of him. Emil came to a stop, looking around for anyone who could be listening before he answered.

“I was going to go wait for Mathias.”

“Forget about him, come hang out with us.”

“He’s probably pretty upset about the game. Besides, my parents—”

“There you are, Emil!” said Emil’s dad, walking up to him and throwing an arm around him. He was followed closely by Mathias’s dad and their moms.

“So!” said Mathias’s dad, throwing an arm around Emil from the other side. “I heard you’re going to be my son-in-law!”

“What? No!” Emil exclaimed, trying in vain to shake both men off. They laughed heartily, ruffling his hair in sync. This was a reoccurring problem when the two of them got together: Emil could expect to be teased at least twice as much as usual.

Lukas slipped back towards Berwald and Timo to avoid coming in contact with Mathias’s mom. _At least he’s considerate towards_ some _people._ He gave Emil a wave before walking off towards their car with them, leaving the boy to deal with both sets of embarrassing parents.

“I can’t believe they managed to hide it from us for this long!” Mathias’s mom remarked to Emil’s mom.

“I can’t believe we’re going to be family!” said Emil’s dad to Mathias’s dad.

“Will you two quit it?”

Several minutes later, Mathias walked out to the parking lot, looking dejected. His dad released Emil to run up and tackle his son into a hug. “Hey there, son! Nice playing!”

“Yeah, that’s why we won,” Mathias said glumly.

“Aw, Mat, don’t look so down,” said his mom, holding back a smile. “Your boyfriend is here to cheer you up!”

“My what?” Mathias looked at Emil, who shrugged.

“The cat’s out of the bag,” explained the younger, finally shaking his dad off.

“And we’re going to go celebrate,” added Mathias’s mom. “Victory or not.”

“Just us?” Mathias asked Emil.

“Um, yeah, my friends are catching up with each other,” he replied, nodding towards Lukas, Berwald, and Timo.

“Ah, gotcha.” Mathias nodded at them, and Lukas waved back lazily. “Well, if everyone already knows…” He wrapped his arm around Emil’s shoulders, making his boyfriend blush, and they followed their parents to their cars to go get something to eat.


	6. Chapter 6

Emil received a call on his way home from school one day. 

“Hi, Emil, it's Tino!"

"Hey, Tino, what's up?" Mathias gave him a curious look from the driver's seat, and Emil shrugged in response. 

"Um, well, actually, I called to talk to you about that thing coming up."

"Thing?" Emil squinted into his lap, trying to remember if he knew of any "thing." 

"You know," Tino said carefully, "the anniversary of Lukas's death."

"Oh my god," Emil gasped. "Is it insensitive that I completely forgot?"

"What is it?" Mathias asked him, and he held up a hand to tell him to wait. 

"Well, I wouldn't say so. I mean, he's practically alive to you."

"Honestly, with all the dead jokes he makes...Anyway what about it? Should we be doing something special for it?"

"From my experience, most spirits like to be commemorated in some way on their death day. Usually a trip to the cemetery or something, but you should ask Lukas about that. I was just calling to tell you that Berwald and I won't be able to be there with you three. It's been five years, but with all the recent events, Berwald just isn't up to reliving all of that."

"Oh okay. I can understand that." The poor guy had just met his dead ex about a month ago, and it had probably reopened a few wounds. 

"Tell Lukas we're sorry, okay?"

"Of course."

"Thanks, Emil, I'll talk to you later!"

They hung up, and Mathias quickly questioned him. 

"Tino was calling about Lukas's death day," Emil explained. 

"Death day? Like the day he died?"

"Yeah, obviously."

"God, I completely forgot, but that's coming up, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I forgot, too. Some boyfriends we are."

"Well, Lukas never really talks about it. If I hadn't found that article in the library, we probably wouldn't even know the date."

"But we do, and Tino said we might want to do something for it."

"So he called to remind us?"

"No, actually he called to say that they're not coming to visit for it. Berwald is kind of..."

"Yeah, that makes sense. So, are we supposed to plan a surprise party or something?"

"No, we'll just ask Lukas what he wants to do."

"That sounds like a better idea," Mathias chuckled as he pulled up to Emil's house. "So, do you need help with  _homework_  today?" he asked with a wink.

Emil looked at his phone, hoping that would hide any potential blush. "Um, yeah."

"Alright, then lead the way!"

Emil entered his house and made his way up to his room with his boyfriend following behind. He wasn't actually sure if he was allowed to have Mathias over when his parents weren't home, since they had never had that promised "rules talk." But between their different friend groups, school, and Mathias's various extracurricular activities, they hadn't had much alone time together in the past couple of weeks. Well, not like they were really alone, with the addition of their ghostly boyfriend.

"Haven't seen you in a while," Lukas said when they entered Emil's room. 

"Is that really how you're going to greet me?" Mathias laughed, scooping the ghost into a hug.

"Well, it's not my fault I can't just come to your house," Lukas answered, pushing him away softly. "You two look rather serious today."

"Tino called me on our way here," Emil said carefully. "He said he and Berwald won't be here for your anniversary."

"Anniversary?" Lukas frowned. "Oh, that. Is it really that time of year again?"

"I guess it is," Mathias said solemnly. "Sorry about Berwald."

"It's not a big deal," Lukas answered, shaking his head. "I mean, it would just be a lot more...painful with him around."

"Do you want to do something for it?" Emil asked. "We could go to the cemetery or something."

"Why bother? That's not me down there anymore."

"But still," Mathias said, "it might be nice to do something sentimental." 

"Well, if you two really want to, we can, I suppose."

Emil and Mathias exchanged a glance.

"Lukas, this is more about what you want to do," Mathias pressed carefully. 

"Yes, fine, let's go visit my grave," he replied quickly. "But right now, I think we have more important things to do."

"Yes, like ‘homework’." Mathias grinned. 

 

Emil’s parents finally threw a house warming party when they unpacked the last of their boxes, three months after moving in. And “house warming party” actually just meant that they invited the Køhlers over. Between both sets of parents and Mathias, Emil spent most of the time being teased, and if it weren’t for Mrs. Køhler’s anti-hocus-pocus amulet, Lukas would have been in on it, too. As it was, he wasn’t even able to be in the same room as her.

The teasing finally let up when Emil’s mom suggested they play a board game, and Emil’s dad left to search the closet for games. The relief didn't last long, however, because he soon returned with a huge smile on his face.

"Guess what I found," he said happily, showing off a dusty box.

"Oh, my god," gasped Mathias's dad, "our old Ouiji board!"

"Oh, no," Emil groaned to himself, shooting Mathias a look.

"Did someone say 'Ouiji'?" Lukas asked from the top of the stairs.

"I can't believe you still have that! We have to give it a try!" The dads smiled at each other excitedly like they were children again, and Emil suppressed another groan.

"It won't work, dear," said Mathias's mother gently.

"That's right, you have that little mumbo-jumbo thingy." Mathias's dad looked at her helplessly. "You could go in the next room?"

Emil's mom laughed. "Yes, let's go in the kitchen and let the boys play with their toy."

As soon as they left the room, Lukas came down the stairs and settled on the other side of the board from the dads.

“This is a bad idea,” Emil said to Mathias.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Mathias replied, shrugging.

“Aren’t you boys going to join us?” Mathias’s dad asked.

“I’ll pass,” Emil replied, crossing his arms.

“Suit yourself,” said his dad. The men put their hands on the pointer, and Lukas followed suit.

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy this,” he said, smirking.

“Is anyone there?” Mathias’s dad asked. Lukas slid the pointer to Yes. The two men looked at each other excitedly.

“What if it’s just one of you two moving it?” Mathias asked casually.

“We would never trick each other like that,” Emil’s dad huffed in offense. “If the board says a spirit is here, then there really is.”

“If you say so.”

“What is your name?” Mathias’s dad asked the board. The pointer moved slowly from letter to letter: L-U-K-A-S. “Lukas? Wasn’t that the kid who died here?” The pointer quickly slid to Yes.

“Woah,” Emil’s dad breathed. “Are there any other spirits here, Lukas?”

No.

The dads looked at each other nervously.

“What is it?” Emil asked.

“We’ve never encountered a real ghost,” Mathias’s dad admitted. “I don’t remember what we wanted to ask.”

“Um, is there anything you would like to tell us, Lukas?”

The ghost looked at Emil and Mathias with a mischievous smirk. Slowly, the pointer began to move again: Y-O-U-R-S-O-N-S-A-R-E-H-O-T. Mathias nearly choked. The dads laughed in confusion, and Emil was doing his best to glare daggers into the ghost.

“If looks could kill…oh, but I’m already dead.” Lukas gave him a cheeky grin. “Would you rather have me slam doors and make the walls bleed?”

“How’s it going?” asked Emil’s mom as she and Mathias’s mom walked back into the living room.

“Aw, you’re going to scare the ghost away,” Emil’s dad whined.

“Oh, did you find one?”

“Um, Dad?” Emil began in an attempt to distract him. “If you believe in ghosts, why didn’t you ever believe me when I said I could see them?”

“What, you mean when you were 8, and you had just watched _The Sixth Sense_?” Emil’s dad laughed.

“We didn’t let him watch _The Sixth Sense_ when he was 8,” Emil’s mom said.

“Well, _you_ didn’t let him…”

“Erik!”

“Look, kiddo, now you’ve got me in trouble…”

“But why didn’t I ever hear about this?” Emil’s mom continued.

“Because you didn’t want him to watch it.”

“No, I mean that he could see ghosts.”

“He was a little kid with an overactive imagination. He only _thought_ he could see ghosts.”

_Right, I only_ thought _I could see your cousin who had just killed himself._

“You believed me when I told you I could sense spirits.”

“Wait, what?” Emil almost shrieked.

“Didn’t we ever tell you that, sweetie? That’s how we became friends.”

“Yeah, but you were 20, not 8,” Emil’s dad responded.

“Lilly, I didn’t know you could sense them, too,” Mathias’s mom commented.

“I don’t really anymore,” explained Emil’s mom. “I think I grew out of it, or I just learned to block it out. I’m just saying, _Erik_ , that maybe Emil was telling the truth.”

“Okay, fine. Emil, can you see ghosts?”

Emil froze. He had dealt with his condition by himself for so long, he didn’t know if he wanted to tell his parents anymore. He definitely didn’t want to tell them he was in a relationship with the ghost in his bedroom. We he didn’t respond, Mathias poked him gently.

“This is stupid. I’m not talking about it anymore,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“So there’s a ghost in my house, and my son can see it,” Emil’s dad summarized jokingly. “No wonder you were so scared to move into your room.”

“I was not!”

“That’s enough talk about ghosts,” Mathias’s mom said resolutely. “Let’s play a game.”

 

“You didn’t tell them,” Lukas remarked, leaning over Emil as he lay in bed later that night.

“It wasn’t the right time,” Emil responded with his eyes shut. “I didn’t want to talk about it in front of the Køhlers, because I didn’t know if Mathias wants to tell his parents.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“What do you want to do tomorrow?”

“Throw a rager.”

“I’m serious.”

“Me, too. Dead serious.”

Emil sat up and met the ghost’s eyes, resisting the urge to roll his. “Well, it’s your day, so we can do whatever you want.”

 

“This is weird,” Lukas said as they pulled up to the cemetery.

“We can leave if you want,” Mathias said.

“No, we’re already here. I’m just saying it’s weird.”

Emil got out of the car, carrying a big pile of blankets. “Do you know where it is?” he asked his ghostly boyfriend.

“Yeah, it’s this way.” Lukas silently led them to his gravestone. He seemed to float across the ground, making the whole situation even eerier. When they found it, he stared down at it for several minutes. Emil felt very strange standing above his boyfriend’s grave with the man himself.

                Lukas Thomassen

                1993 – 2010

                Beloved son and friend

“Nothing fancy,” Lukas commented quietly. “That’s my parents’ style. Too bad it’s a lie.”

“Why don’t we sit down?” Mathias suggested, putting a hand on the ghost’s shoulder.

“Sure, why not.” Emil spread one of the blankets out on the ground for them to sit on, then they wrapped up in the rest of them.

“It wasn’t this cold that day,” Lukas whispered. “It was unusually warm and sunny. A good day to die, I guess.” He paused and sighed. “Sorry, you two don’t want to hear about this.”

“If it helps you to talk about it, I don’t mind listening,” Emil said.

“It doesn’t bother me either,” Mathias said, pulling the other two closer.

“Alright then,” Lukas said. “Let me tell you how I died.

“I had gotten my early admission and full ride scholarship to university, and for once in my life, I felt like my parents were proud of me. Berwald had wanted me to tell my parents about us for a while, so I thought that was as good a time as any. Well, you know how that went. They told me they couldn’t have a gay son, and they would rather have no son at all.

“They went out to a dinner party that night. I was supposed to go with them, but they didn’t want to look at me right then. I realized then that I had wasted my whole life trying to please these people who would never really love me. I couldn’t figure out how to turn that around, so I decided just to give up.

“I got some rope from the garage and tied it inside my closet. I knew exactly how to tie it, so it wouldn’t break under my weight. Next thing I knew, my head was through the loop, and I was kicking the chair out from under me.

“I knew it wouldn’t be instantaneous, but I didn’t expect it to take as long as it did.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Did you regret it during…?” Mathias asked softly.

“Pretty much as soon as I kicked the chair away. But, like I said, I tied the rope, so it wouldn’t break. Maybe if I hadn’t been so stressed, if I had eaten more in the weeks before, I would have been heavy enough to pull the bar down in my closet. But I had already made my choice.

“After I don’t know how long, everything started to go fuzzy, then dark, and then I felt myself falling. When I woke up, I was looking at my body from the outside. I got to watch my parents find me. They seemed sad enough, but I didn’t understand why. They immediately blamed my sexuality, guessing that I had been bullied at school. They were right, but that didn’t bother me as much as their own rejection.”

Emil suppressed a shudder. Lukas told his story with cold precision, and his face held no emotion. He looked, well, dead.

They heard another car pull into the parking lot. A couple dressed in freshly pressed black clothing stepped out of the car.

“That’s my parents,” Lukas whispered, surprise overtaking the numbness from before.

“Well, I guess it makes sense that they would come here today,” Mathias commented.

“They have no right to be here,” Emil grumbled. “If they couldn’t appreciate you in life, they don’t get to grieve for you.”

“I don’t care,” Lukas said quickly. “Like I said, that’s not me down there anymore.” His voice was shaking, and that made Emil very angry.

“Oh, hello,” said Lukas’s mother, looking down at them in surprise.

“Mother,” Lukas whispered.

“Er, hi,” Mathias greeted awkwardly.

“Did you, uh, know Lukas?” Emil was suddenly very aware of Mathias’s arms around him. These people were homophobic jerks here to honor their gay son’s suicide.

“Yes, we did,” he answered stubbornly.

“You’re a little young to have known him,” said Lukas’s dad sternly. “I think you had better leave.”

“No, I think _you’d_ better leave.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know what you did to him, and you don’t deserve to call yourselves his parents.”

“Young man, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’d better leave, before we call the police,” Lukas’s mom threatened icily.

“It’s fine,” Mathias said quickly, standing up. “We’re leaving.” He guided Emil out of the cemetery with Lukas trailing behind silently.

“What the hell?” Emil demanded when they got in the car.

“They’re not worth it, Emil. They just want to put down some flowers to make themselves feel better. Sure, they don’t deserve to, but it’s not worth getting the cops called on us.”

“It just makes me so mad that they get to pretend it wasn’t their fault.”

“Thank you, Emil,” Lukas said quietly from the back. “I appreciate it, but don’t get yourself in trouble.”

“Come on, everyone, buckle up. Let’s get out of here before they get my license plates.”

“Where are we going?” Emil asked as he put his seat belt on.

“That’s up to the man of the day.”

“I don’t care.”

“How about a leaf drive? Most of the leaves have already fallen, but it might be nice to clear our heads.”

They drove around for a while, listening to the radio. Emil started to calm down.

“Are you okay, Lukas?” he asked gently, turning in his seat to look at the ghost.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he replied, looking out the window. “At least they can’t see me. I think they’d find some way to ground me.”

“Why don’t we go back to my house?” Mathias suggested finally. “My parents are going out tonight, so my mom won’t be a problem.”

Lukas grunted his assent.

“I want to grab some things from my house first,” Emil replied.

“Alright, we’ll swing by there first.”

They pulled up to Emil’s house, but Mathias couldn’t park in his normal spot; there was already a car there. A car they had already seen that day.

“What on earth?” Lukas said quietly.

“Let’s just go straight to my place,” Mathias said quickly, shifting his car back into gear.

“No,” Emil replied, unbuckling his seat belt. “You two stay here, I’ll be right back.” Without another word, he opened the door and got out of the car, stomping up to his house.

“Wow, the house looks so different already,” Lukas’s mom was saying as he walked in.

“Oh, Emil,” said his own mom. “These are the Thomassens, the previous owners of this house.”

“It’s you,” Lukas’s dad gasped.

“What the hell are you doing in my house?” Emil asked icily.

“Emil! Today is the anniversary of…well, you know, and they’re here to honor their son,” answered his dad.

“You didn’t honor him in life, you don’t get to pretend to mourn him.”

“Listen, son, you have no idea what we’ve been through,” Lukas’s dad said angrily.

“I know that it’s your fault your son is dead! You don’t even deserve to call yourselves his parents!”

“Emil Steilsson! Go to your room!” yelled his dad.

“Fine, I’m just grabbing things to go to Mathias’s anyway.”

“Forget about it, you’re grounded. Give me your phone.”

He grudgingly gave his phone to his dad and stomped up to his room, slamming the door behind him. He looked out the window and saw his dad going outside and talking to Mathias, who then drove away. He was so mad, it was all he could do not to throw something. Lukas had suffered all his life under the thumb of his parents, then after he died he suffered for five years in an empty house. Now these monsters who called themselves his parents were trying to gain sympathy by mourning him, as if they hadn’t had anything to do with his death.

He was surprised to feel tears rolling down his cheeks. He buried his head in his pillow and made a disgruntled sound. He was being an idiot, and now he couldn’t be with Lukas when he needed him.

There was a knock at his door.

“Emil, it’s me,” called his mom.

“Come in.” She walked in and sat at the foot of his bed.

“So, do you want to tell me what just happened?” she asked calmly, rubbing his back.

“I can’t,” he answered miserably.

“Why not?”

“It’s not my business to tell, and you wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

“Is this about what happened last night? About the ghost?” Emil said nothing in response, and she sighed. “I was able to sense ghosts when I was younger, you know. Over time, I guess I was able to suppress it, but when I was really young, I could feel their emotions. And I never met a happy spirit. And this house sat empty for nearly five years, possibly with a ghost inside. I can’t imagine anything lonelier than that.”

Suddenly, Emil started to sob.

“Oh, honey,” cooed his mom, pulling him into a hug. “You can talk to me about this, I promise.”

“They tried to blame it on bullying, but they were the ones who drove him to do it.”

“What do you mean?”

“They found out that he was gay, and they disowned him. His whole life was about pleasing them, but they were never happy with him.”

“His parents?” Emil nodded, and his mom let out a long breath. “Well, I can’t imagine treating you that way. It’s hard to imagine any parent acting like that, but unfortunately there are people like that with children. If that’s true, it’s no wonder why he, well, you know.”

“They don’t deserve to mourn him.”

“That may be so, but it’s not our place to decide that. They may have realized their mistake and are trying to make it up to their son by honoring his death.”

“I doubt it.”

“Emil, you really care about this boy.”

“He’s…my friend, sort of, and he’s been through a lot.”

“Is he…here now?” Emil’s mom looked around uncertainly.

“No, he’s not in the house right now. He didn’t want to see his parents.”

“Alright, well, you’re not grounded. I can’t punish you for standing up for someone.”

“Then can I go to Mathias’s?”

“Sure, sweetie, I’ll go talk to your father. Here is your phone.” She gave him back the device, and he sent a quick text to Mathias as he followed her out of his room.

He rode his bike as quickly as he could to the Køhlers’ and practically ran to the front door when he arrived. When Mathias and Lukas answered the door, he threw his arms around the both of them.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to get here,” Emil said.

“It’s alright,” Lukas replied. “You’re here now.”

Tino called later that night to check in with them, and Emil told him what had happened. He and Berwald arrived in town the next day, all pain forgotten in favor of making sure Lukas was alright. He and Berwald went off by themselves to talk, which was probably good for the both of them.

“He’s looking well,” Tino commented. Emil and Mathias looked at him, but he gave no hint of sarcasm.

“I think he looks worse than when I first met him,” Emil said.

“That may be true, but his aura looks much brighter than when I first saw him.”

“Ghosts have auras?” Mathias asked. “I always thought they just _were_ auras.”

Tino shook his head. “Everyone has an aura, spirit or mortal. You two are good for him, and I think getting some closure with Berwald has helped, too. I know it’s helped Berwald a lot.”

“That’s good to know,” Mathias said. “I was really worried about him yesterday.”

“I think he’ll be fine. In fact, he may even be able to move on someday.”

“Move on?” Emil asked. “Wait you mean, like _move on_?!”

“Yes, of course.” Tino scrutinized the younger boy. “That’s usually the goal with spirit’s, otherwise they’re forced to watch the people they care about grow old and move away or die.”

“I guess I never thought about that.” Mathias wrapped an arm around him.

“It’ll be his choice, I’m sure, if he gets that far,” said his boyfriend.

“Well, there is something else…” Tino said. “I’m not sure if it’s real or not. I’ve only heard about it from my grandpa, and I’m not sure where he got it from.”

“What is it?” Emil asked.

“Instead of moving on, if a proper ritual is conducted, a spirit can come back to life.”

“Come back? What does that mean?”

But they didn’t have a chance to discuss it further, because Lukas and Berwald came back at that moment. Emil put it out of his mind but resolved to question Tino more later on. For now, he was going to spend time cheering his other boyfriend up and appreciate the strange situation the five of them were in.

A few months ago, he dreaded seeing ghosts and hated the idea of having to live near one. Now, he couldn’t imagine a life without Lukas in it. Even if he did tend to rearrange Emil’s things in the middle of the night. He caught the ghost’s eye and received a small, genuine smile. It warmed his heart, and before he knew what he was doing, Emil had his arms wrapped around his boyfriend, ignoring the cold radiating from him. Yes, it was a strange relationship that he, Lukas, and Mathias had, but it was good, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

 

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally finished! Thanks a bunch to everyone who stuck it out with me, I know it's been over a year since I last updated. I'm not planning to write a sequel/epilogue/whatever to this, so you can decide yourself what happens to our favorite characters. If you enjoy my stories, please check out my writing blog, since I have some notes and extra snippets and ficlets on there. Thanks again for reading!


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